Motherhood
by Sophie Ranier
Summary: Ziva had choose motherhood on her own. A big decision followed by a small secret will changer her life forever.
1. Occasionally

_"Making the decision to have a child is momentous. It is to decide forever to have your heart go walking around outside your body." -Elizabeth Stone

* * *

_

Ziva David wanted to become a mother.

Mail was usually not celebrated, especially in the bullpen.

Tony was still extra cautious opening letters, making sure to not unnecessarily blow on the top, or open anything with a mysterious SWAK on the back.

Ziva never really got the point of mail. Or any confrontation that was not face-to-face in general.

McGee was the only one that liked mail, but paper mail seemed boring to him. Everything he did now was email and mail-mail seemed to come less and less.

Gibbs, well, any mail that Gibbs got was usually a package from someone wanting help or a letter from an old friend stuck between a rock and a hard place.

But today, Ziva was excited to see the manila envelope sitting on her desk when she arrived at work that morning. She sat down with a content smile on her face as she opened the envelope and took out the stack of pictures.

"Morning." McGee said towards her as he entered the bullpen.

"Good morning McGee." she chirped as she slowly went through the photographs, smiling momentarily at each one.

Tim sat down at his desk, noticing the smile in her eyes as she went through a mysterious stack of photos. "What are those?" he asked, his eyes wandering past Gibbs's empty desk to hers.

"Photographs." she said simply, continuing to go though the stack.

He paused for a second, hoping she'd continue, but she didn't. "Of?" his interest peeking.

"My nephews." she smiled, and could feel Tony's now present presence.

"Nephews?" Tony questioned, putting his stuff down. And by now, McGee had already made his way to Ziva's desk, standing in front of it.

She looked up momentarily from her delight to explain. "Ari and Tali were not my only siblings."

"Tali?" McGee questioned, confusion staining his face. But his confusion turned to pain as Tony's elbow made contact with his ribs. He shot him a don't-go-there-look. But it was too late.

"My younger sister." she said, not looking up. "She was killed." she explained simply, not getting into details.

"Sorry." McGee mumbled, hating himself for asking, but he was innocent, having no prior knowledge of this, although he still received a brief glare from Tony.

"Cute kids." Tony commented after slipping behind Ziva's chair and lowering down to her level.

"Thank you." she said softly, still admiring the new and shiny photos. "They are my younger brother's sons." she picked out a photo of just the two young boys and herself, sitting on a burgundy couch, smiling brightly into the camera. "That is Avery, he is four. And Ethan is two." her smiled was still fresh on her lips.

"You're really good with kids." McGee said, almost admiringly as he glanced through the pictures.

She looked down at her desk for a moment, seemingly deep in thought, but only for a second. Her eyes then re-met the photographs in front of her.

Just then, a phone rang. McGee's. He rushed back over to his desk, answering it quickly, and hanging up almost as fast. "Abby needs me." he announced to no one in particular before leaving the bullpen.

"He's right you know." Tony said, looking at a picture of Ziva, sprawled out on the floor surrounded by toy cars and Ethan straddled to her stomach. Their smiles were glorious, you could hear their laughs.

He watched her, her eyes lit up with every change of the photo in front of her and her soft chuckle as she recognized a moment captured by the camera.

"You'd be a great mom." the last word caught her attention and she immediately turned her head towards Tony, looking at him softly. "You ever think about it?" he asked.

She watched him for another moment, then turned back to the pictures. "Occasionally."

But the simplicity of the answer and the hint of a smile told Tony that she had thought about it a lot more than just _occasionally_.

* * *

**Now Review! please and thank-you's:D**


	2. Support

_(A Few Days Later)_

"I lied."

Those two words came out quickly, randomly.

The bullpen was dark and empty, the only two inhabitants being Tony and Ziva. The only light source came from the desk lamps at the four only desks in the bullpen.

"Before, when you asked about having children, I lied." it was a rare moment. She wanted to talk, and he was more than happy to listen.

"I think about it more than I should." he could feel her smile growing.

He leaned forward on his desk, his interest growing with each passing moment. She was speaking on instinct, and for some reason, not holding back. "With my new American citizenship, and Agent position, I have been giving children some thought."

"Some?"

"A lot." she paused for a moment. "In Mossad, children were…impossible. But now, I am an American. I am an agent. There are plenty of agents with families."

He smiled at her words, he didn't know quite why, but he did. "And my visit with my brother has just had me thinking more."

"Has it?"

"I am financially and emotionally prepared. I have enough room, I am not growing any younger."

"Getting any younger." he corrected quickly.

"Yes. And I have done some thinking…and some research." she smiled slyly.

"Research?" he questioned with confusion.

She nodded slowly. "I am having an artificial insemination."

"A what?"

"Apparently you do not need a man to have a baby." She said simply while he watched her in confusion.

"They must have taught it differently at my high school." He replied sarcastically but even the cunning remark could not wipe the shock from his face.

"Wait, so you're-"

She smiled unbelievingly. "I am. The idea of unconditional love is amazing. A child-"

"Is a huge responsibility." he stated, eyes practically out of their sockets.

"A life changing, responsibility that I want to take on." her words were passionate, confident.

Tony was shocked, he watched her, expecting something, but receiving nothing.

"Tony, it is already decided. I talked to Gibbs, I have run into some money, I have a stable job, support from you all." she said the last part with traces of hope.

"Ziva are you ev-"

"Why are you choosing _now_ to be the rational one?" she questioned, anger hitting every word.

"I just..." but he came up with nothing. She was right, she would make a great mom, and she could handle it.

She looked at him long and hard, watching every movement of his face. "I cannot believe I am saying this, but your support means something to me." she said, her eyes deepening into hers.

There was a pause, one that Goldilocks would appreciate, not too long, not to short. Just right.

"You have it." _You always have, and always will have it_, he wanted to add.

She smiled contently, but he could see the traces of victory hanging on her lips.

He watched her for a long time, while she finished her paperwork and organized her desk. He hoped she wouldn't notice but he knew she did. "So," he said as she grabbed her jacket from behind her chair. "We're gunna have a little ninja running around?"

_We_. The word stuck with her.

Yes.

"I am going to have a baby."

I am going to become a mother.

And she could not suppress her smile.


	3. To the Bank

_(A Week Or So Later)_

Ziva stood outside of the sperm bank in Baltimore.

Taking in the scent of the nearby marina, she pushed in the glass door and listened to the jingle of a small bell on top of the door.

She walked up to the front desk where middle-aged woman sat, reading a magazine.

"Excuse me?" she asked politely.

The woman looked up from her magazine and gave Ziva an overly excited smile. "May I help you?"

"Um, yes. I have an appointment at four. Ziva David." Ziva informed the woman.

She watched as the woman, whose name tag stated her name was Fran, tapped a few keys on her computer until she gave a small expression of recognition. "Ah, Ziva. Yes." She said handing her a clipboard. "Just fill this out, and when you're done the Dr. Johnson will see you."

Ziva nodded before taking a seat next to a younger woman in a black pantsuit and designer glasses.

She smiled and politely nodded as she sat down and began filling in the question sheet.

When she was done she gave the clipboard back to Fran.

"Thank you, first door on your left." She said pointing to the hallway.

Ziva walked through the hallway and opened the door that Fran had pointed her to.

"Hello?" she asked, seeing the office empty.

"Ah! Ziva David." A woman said entering from a pair of double doors in the back of the office.

"Da-veed." Ziva corrected on impulse.

"Oh, sorry, Ms. Da-veed. So," she said motioning for Ziva to sit down on a small couch in front of the plasma screen on the wall. "You are here to pick a donor?"

"Yes."

"Ok, well let's get started." She said turning on the TV. "Well I'll show you some pictures of some of the donors and put them through a morphing program to and to get an idea of what the baby might look like. You can also see some of the characteristics of the donors on the bottom of the screen. Well, at least that's what they filled in, but you know men." She said with a chuckle.

"Ok, well let's get started." She said sitting at her desk and clicking the mouse.

A smiling you blond man appeared on screen, Brad Cooper was his name.

Ziva smiled slightly, he was pretty cute. "Can I see that one?"

Dr. Johnson nodded and clicked the mouse a few times.

The baby's dirty blonde hair and green eyes made a smile tug at Ziva's lips.

"Can I see the next one?"

A red-head with a crooked smile and brown eyes appeared on screen.

But the red haired and tan skin baby did not appeal to Ziva.

After a few more unsuccessful attempts at trying to find a perfect baby for Ziva, or at least a perfect baby daddy, a picture appeared on the screen that made her gasp in shock.

There, on the plasma, was a younger man, maybe in his mid-twenties, with a huge, 100 watt smile, emerald green eyes, and short brown hair sticking up in all different directions.

There, on the plasma, was her partner, her co-worker, her friend. The man she constantly bantered with, stole daily subtle glances from, and shared coffee and the occasional movie night with.

There, on the plasma, was none other than Tony Dinozzo.


	4. Donor Dinozzo

Her heart skipped a beat as she saw Tony's face, with that huge goofy grin, looking back at her. He was younger in that picture, his hair was longer and his face was brighter.

But, it was still Tony.

All of a sudden something overcame her.

She decided to have a little fun.

No one would ever find out.

"May I see that one?" she asked, trying to hold back a small smile.

"Of course." Dr. Johnson replied.

And with a few quick taps at the keys the two images morphed into one and the age program worked its magic.

Ziva gasped at the sight.

The baby was absolutely adorable, perfect.

She didn't know what caught her eye first.

The full head of dark brown hair sticking in all different directions.

The two bright, hazel eyes staring back at her.

The little ears that hardly stuck out that were placed equally on each side of its head.

The small smile on the tips of the naturally pink lips.

The slender jaw line that made the genderless baby look so fragile, yet so strong.

Or the button nose that was positioned perfectly in the middle of its face.

But the closer was the medical history. Nothing, it was perfect. No genetic disorders (besides an uncle that was allergic to peanuts).

Everything. The whole baby was perfect.

Ziva took in a deep breath. Could she do this? _Would_ she do this?

She mentally began to list the pros and cons of the situation.

The pros were easy.

The baby was so damn cute. Tony would never know. She knew who the baby's father would be. If he or she ever wanted to know who their dad was, maybe she would tell them. Now she would know whose baby she was carrying. She wouldn't be walking around with a stranger's kid.

When you put their characteristics together, the child would be flawless.

Strong. Witty. Outgoing. Caring. Dedicated. Intelligent. Charming.

So many characteristics in one being.

The cons were harder.

The only thing that she could think of that would not be an advantage was if Tony found out.

She didn't know how he would react.

But he would never find out.

And this _was_ a public sperm bank. Anyone, _anyone_, could have picked him.

An impulse overpowered her.

"I like that one."

The doctor smiled in admiration. "Nice choice."

She pressed a couple of more keys and out came a small picture of the morphed image.

Dr. Johnson handed the picture to Ziva.

"Ok, I can set up an appointment for you..." she rustled through her planner. "Tuesday?"

Ziva nodded, eyes still focused on the picture. She did not want to take her eyes off of it.

"Tuesday it is. Four o' clock good for you?"

Ziva nodded again, a tear threatening to leave her chocolate brown eye.

It just became all so real.

She was going to be a mother.

She was going to carry and raise a child of her own.

She was going to carry Tony's child.


	5. Positive

_(Tuesday)_

Ziva entered the front door of the Dr. Johnson's office, her heart beating a mile a minute.

Gibbs had given her the day off, intending to let her get some rest, when in retrospect, she had only gotten a few hours of sleep.

She had spent most of the night thinking.

About her decision, her now changing life, the new baby. About Tony.

Some of her night was spent smiling, though, thinking about the new life she was about to bring into the world and raise. She was going to have a child, someone that she was going to love unconditionally and would love her back. And she thought about names and whether she should find out the sex or not. She had yet to decide on any names, but she came to the decision that she _would_ find out the sex of the baby, it would make shopping and name picking easier.

But the other part of the night she had spent tossing and turning. Thinking about whether she should tell Tony or not.

Right now, she would not.

But eventually? Yes.

Later? Maybe…

Soon? No.

The office smelt like stale mints and cheap lavender air freshener. But it didn't matter; she was going to have a baby, not buying the office.

She walked over to the receptionist, Fran.

"Hello. I have an appointment with Dr. Johnson." Ziva said politely.

"Oh! Ziva, right?" Fran asked in recognition.

Ziva gave her a warm smile and nodded.

"Yes, I remember you." Fran smiled. "Not a very busy day. You can go right in."

"Thank you." Ziva said before heading down the hallway and into Dr. Johnson's office.

As soon as she opened the door, she was welcomed with a comforting voice. "Hello, Ziva." Dr. Johnson smiled. "So nice to see you again." She said motioning for her to follow her towards the back door in her office that lead into a small exam room.

"If you could just put this on," she said, handing Ziva a burgundy cloth dress. "And then just take a seat and I'll be right with you." she said gently closing the door behind her.

After changing out of her clothes she took a seat on what looked like a small hospital bed with metal bars sticking out of it, she guessed those were for her feet.

Looking around the room slightly bored her. The only things to look at were a few pregnancy posters, which she had already practically memorized in the pamphlets the doctor had given her when she first came in, and some Christmas cards from patients. She desperately waited for Dr. Johnson to return.

Finally, the door opened and in came the doctor, her black haired tied neatly into a bun that it was not in when Ziva first arrived. She carried a small canister with a label on it that read Donor #87264033.

Ziva inhaled a breath, she recognized that number, it was the same number under Tony's picture when she was looking for possible donors.

She concentrated on keeping her breathing steady as she watched Dr. Johnson fiddle with some syringes.

"Ok," she said comfortingly, "This will only take a minute, but then we do advise you to lie still for a half an hour or so to prevent leakage."

Ziva nodded, closing her eyes and resting her head down on the top of the stiff leather.

Ziva took in one last breath, and exhaled deeply.

There was no turning back.

* * *

_(30 minutes later)_

Ziva was woken by a gentle voice calling her name.

She looked around the room, slightly confused at first but then realized where she was.

The doctor smiled. "You must've dozed off after the procedure." She explained.

"Oh," Ziva sounded surprised. "My apologizes, I did not sleep that well last night."

"No, it's no big deal, really." the smile still plastered on her face. "Well," she said coming back into her 'doctor mode'. "Everything went well. But you should wait about 2 weeks before taking a test. And if worst comes to worst, we can always try again."

Ziva looked at her in slight disbelief, but quickly, her shock turned into joy. "Thank you." she managed to get out "So much."

Ziva walked out of the office, a proud smile stained her face.

* * *

_(2 weeks later)_

"Abby, please hurry!" Ziva implored, pacing the lab, holding the positive pregnancy test in her hand.

"You can't rush science Ziva!" Abby scolded her. "And why do you need this so bad? The test was positive."

"Yes, but I just want to be sure." Ziva said glancing again at the slender white stick with the small, pink + sign. "I want to be, positive" she smiled slightly at her own joke.

She kept her eye on the + sign, letting her mind wander to just moments ago.

_Ziva stared at her reflection in the mirror, then down at her watch, for the third time in 2 minutes. _

_It had been exactly 2 weeks since the insemination and she had bought a home pregnancy test just for the occasion._

_3 minutes._

_Why couldn't she wait 3 stupid minutes?_

_Maybe because what she was waiting for was probably the most important news she would be getting, ever._

_She glanced at her watch for the third time. 30 seconds to go, she thought glancing down and the still blank test lying on the woman's bathroom counter. _

_Ziva looked down at her stomach, which was still slender and began to wonder if she felt pregnant. She did, but it could just be her mind playing tricks on her._

_Watching the thin red hand on her watch reach the twelve, she smiled and picked up the test. Closing her eyes until it was right in front of her._

_When she opened her eyes she was greeted with the most perfect + sign she had ever seen, it could make math teachers jealous._

_Ziva tried to catch her breath as she held her chest, feeling as if her heart was going to come bursting through her rib cage._

_Still holding the test she clutched her stomach, making sure her grip was not too hard._

"_Baby" was all she could mouth as she felt at loss for words._

_Abby, she then thought rushing down to the lab. She needed to make sure this was absolutely…positive._

All of a sudden the computer beeped. Ziva rushed around the metal table to meet Abby at the computer.

Before she reached her though, she was engulfed in a hug.

"Positive!" Abby squealed into her ear. "You're definitely pregnant!"

Ziva felt a single tear crawl its way down her face.

Abby let her out of her embrace. "You're gunna be a mom! And I'm gunna be an aunt! Aunt Abby! That sounds so cool! Wait, what am I saying, I'm already an aunt, but I hardly ever see my niece cause she lives in New Orleans. But now I'm going to get to see your kid every day, or at least almost every day. You kno-"

"Abby!" she shushed her, placing a fragile finger to her mouth. Ziva opened her mouth to speak, but no words came out.

Thankfully, Abby filled the silence.

"Come on, we need to tell _everyone_!" Abby said, taking her wrist. But both women were stopped at the door.

"Tell everyone what?" McGee asked, holding a large evidence bin then setting it down on the metal table.

"McGee!" Abby said, letting go of Ziva and wrapping her arms around him.

McGee shot Ziva a confused expression, but Ziva was too busy trying to hold back a smile.

Abby stepped back. "Ziva's gunna be a mom!"

Tim's expression softened into a surprised grin. "You're p-pregnant?"

Ziva let her smile loose. "It worked." she said proudly.

"Ziva, that's…wonderful" he said, the grin still on his face as he gave her a friendly hug.

"Yes," Ziva said letting it finally set in. "Yes, it is"

* * *

Ziva and Tim walked up to the bullpen side by side, separating at Tm's desk. Abby was left in her lab to run finger prints on all the evidence McGee had brought her.

Tony whirled into the bullpen, just as Ziva sat at her desk, the smile still lingering on her lips.

"Well you look very…positive?" he said hopefully, knowing that she had probably already taken the test.

"Probably because I am." she replied, grinning.

Tony's eyes widened as he wandered towards her desk.

"Wow, so I guess this means were going to have a little mini ninja assassin running around?" he joked, his smile growing brighter.

"Perhaps." she tried to hold back her smile.

"I saw you with Frank's kid. You're a natural."

Ziva paused for a moment. She hadn't thought he noticed her with Amira.

"Thank you Tony."

Tony looked at her for another moment before he noticed he was border line "leering".

"I bet it'll look a lot like you, the baby." he said on his way to his desk.

_And a bit like you too_, she thought holding back a chuckle.


	6. Ultrasound

_(1 month later)_

Ziva was excited.

To say the least.

It was 0700, Saturday, and she was getting in her mini cooper, off to her first sonogram appointment.

She put the key in the ignition and turned it ever so slightly. Nothing happened.

A few more tries, and several Hebrew curses, later she had come to the conclusion that her car was not going to start. She got out of the car and grabbed her cell phone. Her finger lingered over the five for a few seconds then a thought came to her.

Ziva still felt a small pang of guilt from not telling Tony and before she knew it her finger had already pressed the three.

It rang a few times before she heard his groggy voice answer. "Dinozzo?" he asked, not having looked at the caller ID.

"Tony, it's me."

"Ziva? How'd your sonogram go?" he asked in a still tired voice.

"That is the problem. My car will not start. I hate asking you so early bu-"

"No, no, no. No problem at all. I'll be there in ten."

"Thank you Tony." she replied; she knew he loved it when she said his name when it was not necessary.

Ziva only had to wait five minutes before Tony's car pulled up to her apartment. She got into the blue mustang and greeted him, he did the same.

He had tried his hardest to look like he hadn't just rolled out of bed and rushed to her apartment in record time. He had planned on sleeping in on their day off, but he had promised her support, and support he would give her.

"I am sorry for waking you up for this early." she said getting in the car.

"Don't apologize." He smiled. "It's _really_ no big deal."

_It would be if you knew._

"You're glowing." he commented, turning to look at her.

The statement caught her off guard and she shot him a questioning look. "Excuse me?"

"I don't know, it's something that people say to pregnant women. Like they give off this aroma or something." he explained.

"Aroma? You think I smell?" she asked confused.

"No, like they look nice, they glow. Look, I don't know what it really means either. I was trying to be nice, ok? Give me a break, I don't know many pregnant women."

"Well…thank you." she replied, still a bit confused, although the sort-of-kind gesture _was_ touching.

-Doctor's Office-

"You want me to come in?" he asked awkwardly as he pulled into a spot.

She turned her head to look at him, a bit surprised by the question. But she still managed to let loose a smile.

"Only if you want." she smirked.

He let out a chuckle. "And turn down the chance to see you half naked, I think not." he made her smile as they both got out and entered the office.

"Hello, Fran." Ziva greeted the receptionist, who looked up at the sound of her voice.

"Ziva! Why hello hun. How you been?" Fran and Ziva had become a bit close during Ziva frequent visits to Dr. Johnson, for Ziva was taking every precaution to make sure this baby was healthy and everything went right.

Ziva held back a small smile at the receptionist's bubbly personality. "Good, thank you and you and Frank?"

"Oh, We've been just dandy." She smiled, and then noticed Tony, who was behind her. "That your man?" she gave Tony a flirty look.

Ziva looked at her confused, and then realized who she was talking about. "Him?" she looked back at Tony, who shot her a smile. "Oh, no! No, no, no. He's just a friend. My car broke down and-"

"No, need to explain to me darling. But, love works in mysterious ways." she winked.

Ziva forced a polite smile, before Dr. Johnson called her in.

"What the hell was that all about?" Tony whispered as they were walking down the hall way. "_Love works in mysterious ways_?" he mimicked Fran's southern accent.

Ziva let a smile play at her lips. "She just found her "soul mate" and now she wants to help _everyone _find love." she made air quotes around soul mate, trying to stay away from another awkward conversation about the subject.

Tony chuckled a bit nervously at the subject, stealing a small glance of her not-yet-visible baby bump out of the corner of his eye.

Dr. Johnson led them to a room with a sonogram monitor and a doctor's bed.

"Ok, Ziva, and Ziva's-" but she quickly cut herself off when she saw Tony's face. She had come across it multiple times; he was a donor and not just any donor, Ziva's donor.

Her eyes widened in shock and confusion as she looked at Ziva. Ziva realized that Dr. Johnson had realized he was the donor. _Crap_.

Ziva shook her head slowly and subtly trying to not get Tony too suspicious. "Friend, just friend. Actually he was my ride here." she picked up, hoping Dr. Johnson would go along.

"Oh, of course." she smiled back. _Thank you_. Although she was extremely confused, she knew Ziva would explain eventually.

"Well, this is your first sonogram and you are…" she looked down at the clipboard. "7 weeks right?"

Ziva nodded and Tony couldn't help but notice as she placed her hand lovingly on her stomach.

"Ok, well let's get you gelled up." she said perkily, motioning for Ziva to take a seat on the bed. She then pulled over a chair for Tony, who took his place next to Ziva.

Ziva lifted up her shirt and shot a glance at Tony, who gave her an innocent look in return.

When the doctor applied the gel Ziva felt a chill run through her spine from the coldness it. Just then, she felt a warm hand run gently up and down her back. "You okay?" Tony asked concerned.

She turned her head towards him and a small smile appeared on her face. "Fine, it is cold." she explained.

He nodded let his arm wrap casually around the back of her and she slumped down more relaxed.

Both of their eyes caught sight of the screen, as a small black blob contrasted against the white fuzz. Ziva gasped and felt it hard to swallow. She put a hand to her chest and began breathing slowly.

Tony rubbed her shoulder gently in an effort to calm her, letting out a surprised-in-a-good-way chuckle at the sight of the little dark spot on the screen.

"There it is." Dr. Johnson pointed cheerfully. "There's your baby."

Ziva's lips parted into a smile that she could not hold back. Tears started to fill her eyes, until she let them slowly fall so that she could regain her vision.

"Happy tears." she explained when Tony gave her a concerned look. He smiled, she was happy, that's all he needed.

"Well, everything seems to be in order. The baby is healthy, we won't be able to hear the heartbeat just yet but everything looks fine at this point."

Ziva nodded, eyes glued to the monitor. "When should I come back?" she questioned, still not taking her eyes off her baby.

"Well it's your choice, but a lot of women like to come once a month." she said typing some things into her computer.

Dr. Johnson printed out the picture and handed it to Ziva, who's eyes darted from the picture to the screen.

Her baby, _their_ baby.

She thought seeing the picture of what the baby might look like was real. No, nothing was compared to the feeling she got when she saw her actual baby. All that throwing up, early mood swings, and begining craving were worth it. Just this first glimpse of her baby, it was all worth it.

Tony couldn't believe what he was seeing. He had never been to one of these and the only time he saw a sonogram was when his old partner's wife was pregnant and he brought in the pictures for his desk. But now, to actually see the baby on the screen, to know that another human being was growing, breathing, living inside his partner's stomach, it was a totally different feeling from anything he ever felt, a little creepy, but still.

And even though it wasn't his baby, (as far as he knew) the look on her face and the smile on her lips was definitely worth getting up this morning.


	7. Morning Sickness in Labby

_(A Few Weeks Or So)_

The familiar sound of the dinging of the elevator penetrated through the mist of Android Lust, making Abby turn around only to see her friend bent over the trashcan by the door.

"Good morning to you too." Abby gave a sarcastic smile.

Ziva lifted her head, wiping away a small chunk from the side of her mouth and gave Abby an amused smile, which disappeared as suddenly as it appeared. "Morning sickness." she muttered, reaching for the bottle of mouthwash Abby kept by the sink just for her.

"Yea that's been your excuse all week." she replied sarcastically as Ziva gurgled the blue liquid. Ziva gave her a quick glare before spitting out into the sink. "You okay?" she asked concerned as Ziva put a hand to her head and walked slightly unsteadily towards Abby.

She let out a breath and took her hand from her head. "Yes." she nodded.

"So? What brings you down here?" she asked tuning back to the computer.

"They are off raiding the warehouse we think Hernandez may be and Gibbs _insisted_ that I stay." she sounded frustrated.

"Looks like your desk duty's starting early." Abby said lightheartedly.

Ziva rolled her eyes and leaned against the metal table. "Do you need my assistance in anyway?" she asked, although it sounded more like a plea.

"Unless you know how to neutralize the ions in hydroxide and sodium…" Ziva gave her a questioning look. "Thought so. Nah, I'm good."

Ziva let out a frustrated sigh. "I hate standing here like a log in the dirt."

"Stick in the mud." Abby corrected automatically. "And why don't you see if Ducky needs anything?"

"If I have to ride that dreaded machine one more time I will no longer have anything to upcuck."

"Upchuck Ziva, jeez what's it been like 5 years?" she asked playfully. "Come on, you can watch the finger print analysis for me, see if we get a match." she went into the next room and grabbed a chair, which Ziva plopped right into.

"I am starting to show." Abby heard Ziva state a few minutes in. She turned around to see the bottom of Ziva top by her rib cage as she was inspecting her small, yet defined bump taking over her stomach. She placed a hand tenderly on the spot, it was harder than she remembered and a tad bit rounder.

"A little." Abby shrugged. "But that's nothing compared to what's to come. You should have seen my sister-in-law, she was huge. And when she was really far along it took like 3 of us to get her up off the couch and-" but her rambling was cut off by a subtle growl of Ziva's stomach. Ziva looked down at her exposed stomach. "Hungry?" she said tiredly. "That is all this baby does. Eat!" she said getting up and heading towards Abby stash of granola bars.

"Well, it can't do much." she replied sarcastically. "And plus it's a growing little ninja, it needs its Retinol and Calciferol." she said with a smile.

Ziva took out a few blueberry granola bars and came back towards Abby. "Do you have any ketchup?" she asked casually, ripping the plastic off the first bar.

"You did not just ask me that." Abby said in disbelief.

"Do you or don't you!" she said angrily.

Abby's head flinched back in surprise. "Mm, _someone's_ a moody little mother-to-be." she snorted opening a drawer. "Thankfully for you, me and McGee got Wendy's last night." she said proudly tossing her a few packet of ketchup and some napkins. She watched in disgust as Ziva squeezed the ketchup onto the napkin and began dipping the granola into it. "Do you have any pepper?"

Abby's eyes widened in disbelief but her expression was replaced with a smile. "I'll go check."

A few not so good combinations of condiments later, Ziva finished with a smile as Abby had watched her eat in awe. "I am never getting pregnant."

Ziva let out a chuckle as she got up to throw out the napkins. "That was delicious." she said with an admirable sigh.

"I can think of a few other 'd' words to describe that." Abby said as her face began to regain its ivory tone.

"I really hope this is all worth it." Abby looked at her in confusion. "I mean all the throwing up, the mood swings, and cravings. And now this." she exclaimed pointing to her slight baby bump.

"Ziva, not that I would know or anything, but I think that when you get to hold the little bundle of joy, you're gunna forget all about all this." she let out a small chuckle.

"I hope you are right." Ziva said a slightly absently. It was not like she was having doubts or anything; she knew having a child was going to be a challenge that she was more than willing to accept. But she had no clue how much of a pain pregnancy was, and she had no idea that this was just the beginning.

And for some reason, she was just fine with that.


	8. Mini Ninja Baby Bump

_3 weeks later (12 weeks pregnant)_

Ziva walked calmly back from the bathroom, the morning sickness was finally starting to wear down and she was hoping to only have to deal with this for the rest of the week.

She sat down at her desk and took a deep breath, inspecting the bullpen. She noticed Gibbs' jacket placed over the back of his chair and figured he was somewhere in the building. Placing her head on her fists, she let out a sigh; she didn't know what to do with herself, her paperwork was long done and she often found herself bored out of her mind. Sure, she got to go to the crime scenes and most interviews, but she missed all the action and the thrill.

_7 more months_, she thought to herself.

Just then, McGee entered the bullpen, placing a white paper bag and a foam cup on her desk as he passed.

"What is this?" she asked as her eyes lit up slightly at the sight

"Just a muffin and some tea." he said sitting down, his eyes stayed on her watching her reaction as she opened the paper bag.

"Oh, Tim. You did not need to do that." she said, taking the chocolate chip muffin out of the bag.

"I was getting coffee anyway." he said with a smile as she picked off a small piece and plopped it in her mouth.

"Mmm." she hummed in delight. "This is delicious. Thank you McGee." she gave him a warm hearted smile. He nodded as Tony walked in and noticed the two eating.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa. What is this Denny's?" he questioned, putting his stuff down.

"Who?" Ziva shot him a confused expression.

"Never mind." he rolled his eyes, as he began to check his email.

"McGee was kind enough to buy me breakfast this morning." she again gave McGee a smile.

"Oh, well, McGentleman." he turned to McGee. "Nothing for your senior field agent? And why is that?"

"Maybe it is because Gibbs does not approve of ass-kissing." she smirked.

"Hey, let the guy answer for himself!" he shot and she held up her hands in innocence. He turned back towards McGee.

"Well, Tony, Ziva's eating for two. And I thought you could _manage_ at least feeding one mouth." he replied smugly.

He gave him a sarcastically amused smile before turning his attention back to Ziva. "So, how is the little ninja-to-be?"

She knitted her eyebrows together but let lose a smile. "The _baby_ is fine."

Tony wandered to her desk; upon getting there he motioned for her to stand up. She shot a confused expression between him and McGee. "Come on!" he said enthusiastically, practically lifting her up from her chair.

"Tony, what are you doing?" she tried holding back a laugh as she playfully swatted him away.

"Come on, let me see." he said reaching for the bottom of her shirt. She automatically grabbed his wrist and twisted it up against his chest. He yelped in pain. "Sorry." she muttered, letting go of him.

"I just wanna see the little Ziva." he whined.

She rolled her eyes. "You are not serious, are you?" but he quickly nodded.

"Please!" he pleaded childishly.

She let out a frustrated sigh. "Fine, Tony!" she chuckled.

She felt a small chill crawl down her back as he slowly lifted the bottom material of her shirt up to her ribs, showing off her bulging stomach.

"You sure it's not twins?" he questioned absently, as he gently brushed his fingers over her stomach. She resisted a shiver at the warmth of his fingers.

"You were there at the ultrasound, were you not?" she pointed out.

"Yea." he nodded absently, mesmerized by her stomach. "Wow. There's a little mini ninja in there." he mused.

"Will you stop calling my unborn baby a ninja!" she scolded as he began to inspect her stomach further. McGee watched in confusion as he did so, until finally accepting the strangeness of his coworkers and going back to his work.

Just then, Tony received a swift slap to the back of the head. "Dinozzo! Did that sexual harassment seminar teach you nothing?" he asked sarcastically on his way to his desk.

"I was just-" he looked at Ziva, hoping for a save but she just smirked. "Won't happen again boss." he said grumpily, making his way back to his desk.

"Come on." he commanded. "Dead Petty Officer." he put his gun in his holster and started for the elvevator, McGee and Tony close behind as Ziva gave him a hopeful look. He looked at her and sighed. "Come on." he motioned to Ziva with two fingers.

She let out a sigh of relief, before getting her things and just catching the elevator before the doors closed.


	9. Kick! It's a ?

_(5 months pregnant)_

Ziva leaned back into her chair, rubbing the cotton of her maternity fit tee-shirt over her stomach. It was a slow day, filled with paperwork. But Ziva had finished her work long ago and was almost so desperate for something to do, she contemplated helping Tony with his, _almost_.

McGee got up, grabbing his coat and wallet in the process. "I'm going to Alfonso's. You guys want anything?" he asked as he came between Tony's and Ziva's desks.

"Philly Cheese. Extra Cheese." Tony muttered, his fingers awkwardly typing a few keys a minute. "And not on the whole wheat stuff you got last week."

"I was just thinking of your health." he protested.

"What are you, my second nanny?"

Tim rolled his eyes and shifted his focus to Ziva who shook her head. "No thank you Tim."

"Are you sure?" he gave her a questioning look.

"I have an ultrasound appointment in half an hour. I'll pick up something on the way." she explained, and with a nod, Tim headed for the elevator.

"You have another ultrasound appointment?" Tony questioned.

"Yes. Once a month, you know that."

"Do you need a ride?" he asked, trying to not sound too eager.

"No." she said after a small smile. "Abby is taking me."

"Oh, okay." he tried to brush it off casually, going back to his arrest report.

Just then, Abby bounced into the bullpen. "Ready to go?" she asked perkily.

"Yes." Ziva replied, getting up and gathering her things. "We will be back in an hour." Ziva called to Tony as Abby looped her arm with hers and started for the elevator.

Ziva sat on the doctor's bed, her stomach exposed and covered in gel. Abby sat in the chair next to her staring at the screen in front of her in awe.

"Getting big." Dr. Johnson commented as she moved the monitor around Ziva's stomach.

Ziva let out a small chuckled as she kept her eyes fixated on the screen, as if always was. But she stole a glance at Abby; whose eyes were lit with excitement and curiosity as she stared at the screen.

"Wow." she said in amazement. "Look at its little feet!" she squealed.

Ziva let loose a smile as she turned her focus back onto her unborn baby.

"Would you like to know the sex?" Dr. Johnson asked.

"Yes, very much so." Ziva replied enthusiastically.

The doctor moved the monitor around slightly, looking at the fetus from different angles, until a smile spread across her face. "Yep. It's a girl."

Ziva let out a small gasp, putting her hand to her mouth and tried to prevent some of the tears that were forming in her eyes from falling.

"Ziva!" Abby squealed, wrapping her arms around her friend. "A girl! I'm gunna have a little niece!" Abby's voice was higher than usual and filled with much more excitement.

"A daughter." Ziva whispered to herself, allowing a few tears to fall.

* * *

_(1 week later)_

Ziva stood in the empty, former guest room of her apartment, staring at the collection of paint samples on the walls.

Purple.

Yellow.

Pink.

Darker purple.

Lighter purple.

Darker yellow.

She hadn't narrowed it down the slightest bit. After a few more minutes of thought, she figured she'd pick out the furniture theme before deciding on a color.

Wandering over to the corner of the room she picked up the sketch that Abby had drawn her and studied it. She was really taking a liking to Abby's idea. But before any further thoughts could come to her, there was a knock at the door.

Opening the door, she was a bit surprised by her visitor.

"Tony?" she said a bit shocked, but she managed mixed in some kindness into her tone.

"Hey." he said, holding up a DVD in on hand and a large brown paper bag in the other. "Got Pizza, veggie for you and baby no-name."

She let lose a smile and placed her hand gently on her stomach. Then, an expression of realization dawned upon her. "Oh, my…is it Tuesday already?" she said with a small chuckle.

"Yea…" he said a bit awkwardly. "If tonight's not good-"

"No, no. Actually, tonight is perfect." she smiled. "What movie did you bring?" she asked, inviting him in.

"Uh, Peter Pan." he said, putting the bag down on the kitchen counter.

"Peter…Pan? Is that not a children's movie?" she held back a smile.

"Yea, but I figured since you're having a kid, you should be familiar with the Disney classics."

She let out a small laugh. "That's…sweet."

"Sweet?" he mock questioned as he took out the containers.

"Well, it is just that..." she let out a sigh. "The baby is not even yours," she lied. "and still, you are so involved." she said kindly.

"Is that a bad thing?" he asked uneasily, taking out some plates and placed a veggie slice on Ziva's and a meat lover's slice on his.

"No, actually, I love it that you are involved. I want the baby to have a fatherly figure." she admitted, taking her plate and a water bottle and heading for the couch, Tony following close behind.

"Hm." Tony nodded, taking a seat next to her after popping in the DVD.

Ziva stared at him admiringly for a few seconds, watching him as he kept his eyes focused on the FBI warning. She realized she was staring at him for longer than intended and turned back to the TV.

Halfway through the movie Ziva found herself closer to him, psychically. The opposite sides of their bodies touching and her head leaning on his broad shoulder, Ziva felt herself falling asleep. But was stopped when she heard his voice.

"So, what's it like?" he asked, curiosity could be heard throughout his voice.

"What is what like?" she asked, he eyes on the movie.

"Having a little _Dinozzo_ in there." _Had she heard him wrong?_

"A what?" she asked surprisingly.

"Huh?" he asked, plooping a piece of meat into his mouth.

"What did you call her?"

"A…baby?" he asked, a little frazzled.

_Yes, she had heard him wrong. _

"Oh, yes, well, it is…different, comforting." she hadn't given it much thought.

"Comforting?" he questioned.

She sighed, she wasn't extremely comfortable with getting so deep, but it was Tony, she knew she could trust him. And maybe she'd give him a chance at having a mature conversation. "It makes me feel…like I am not alone."

"Alone, Ziva…" he let out a breath, turning to face her completely. "You, you feel…alone?"

"Well, not _all_ the time. But there are times in everyone's life where they are alone I suppose."

There was a long silence before Tony spoke again. "Somalia?"

Ziva took a deep breath and nodded. "Yes." she finally said. "That was probably the _worst_ part…being alone."

Tony looked at Ziva, long and hard. Her eyes focused on her lap, until she could no longer take his stare. She looked up at him and smiled slightly at his kind expression.

Soon, neither of them could resist. They both inched towards the other, their eyes still glued to each others. Their faces just inches away from each other, their lips being pulled towards the other's, the moment was interrupted when Ziva pulled back making Tony also come out of his trance, running a hand through his hair.

Her hand automatically shot to her stomach. "Whoa." she exclaimed, earning a questioning look from Tony.

"I-I-I think she just kicked!" Ziva said excitedly, rubbing her hand over her stomach.

Another kick was felt.

"Yes! She did! Oh my g- she's never done that before!" her eyes locked off of Tony's and focused on her stomach.

Tony's disappointment was immediately replaced with happiness for his partner, and his smile showed this.

"Wow." she let out a laugh. "My little girl is kicking!" she smiled. "Here, Tony!" Ziva grabbed his hand and placed it on her stomach, gently guiding it to the side of her stomach where the kick was felt the hardest.

"Whoa." Tony said absently from the small kick coming from inside Ziva's belly. "That's quite a kick. She's gunna make a great ninja." he teased.

Ziva laughed again, hand still over Tony's as she lead him across her stomach, holding back tears.

After a few minutes she stopped kicking. And Ziva let out a sigh. "That's going to take some time to get used to." she chuckled awkwardly.

Tony let out a weak chuckle, before focusing on the movie again. "Oh! See Ziva, I told you Tiger Lily reminds me of you!" he pointed out.

"She is a Native American, and I am Israeli. Those two are not similar." she smiled.

"Yea, but she's pretty, doesn't talk much, and is pretty strong for a what, thirteen year old?" he said, eyes on the movie.

"Pretty?" she questioned, barely audible.

"Well, she's a cartoon but-"

"Yes, but she reminds you of me because she is…pretty?" she said slowly.

"Yea." he said innocently. "I think I've told you that before." He looked at her.

"You may have." she said absently. "Thank you." she added.

Tony nodded, before turning back to the movie.

After a few minutes, Ziva spoke again.

"Tony, I was wondering…I signed up for a birthing class. I did not realize until a little while ago that it was a _couples_ birthing class." she said, a bit embarrassed. "If you want to- I mean, I could always ask McGee." she teased.

He smiled his usual smile. "Yea, I'd love to go."

Ziva smiled, sinking back into his side, her hand gently rubbing her stomach.

This baby situation was getting better and better every day.


	10. Birthing Class Confessions

_(2 days later)_

"So like everyone in this class is pregnant?"

Ziva, hand placed casually over her stomach like it always was, shot Tony a weird look.

"Tony, this is a birthing class. What do you expect?" she whispered harshly as they walked through the doors to the exercise room.

"It was a joke." he said lightly.

"You're jokes are usually funnier." she replied coolly.

"I don't know whether to take that as a compliment towards my usual humor or an insult towards my current joke." he mused, causing her to smirk.

Ziva let out a breath and stopped in her tracks, her hand pushed harder on her stomach. Tony stopped, gently grabbing her arm, and looked at her worryingly. "What's wrong?" he asked, at bit frazzled.

"That was a big kick." she said to herself. After breathing slowly a few times, she assured Tony she was fine.

"Ok, class! Everybody, please come to the middle!" a squeaky voice requested.

Tony turned around to see a skinny, jet-black haired, guy standing in the middle of the room, directing couples to their mats. His extremely skinny legs couldn't be seen through his bad 80's themed pants, but his extremely skinny arms could, through his lime green tank top of course. As Tony and Ziva took their seats, the man bounced to the radio in the corner and put on soft pop while he grabbed a yellow sweat band and skipped back to the middle of the circle the pregnant women and their partners had made.

"Well, hello class! Wow! You're all so fat!" his high pitched voice teased. "I joke, I joke!" he laughed as his bright blue eyes seemed to get brighter, if that was even possible.

Tony shot Ziva a weird look as Ziva held back a smile.

"Ok, so this class is supposed to be fun! So I want everyone to walk outta here having had the best time off their life! Unless of course you saw the Spice Girls in Reno last week, that's my only exception." he giggled. His hand spoke for him and he seemed to dance around the studio whenever words came out of his mouth.

"Now, before we begin, I wanna make sure you all know, childbirth…" he paused for dramatic effect. "Is painful. Not that I know from experience, but when my sister had her kid, well let me tell you, it was a pain in the arse for me to hear her _complain_." he laughed.

"But, I'm here to make sure you gals just get through it without screaming so loud that Guam has to call in their reinforcements." he chuckled at his joke.

"So, this week we're gunna take things _slow_." he dragged out the last word. "And start with a simple breathing exercise. Now I want every couple to face each other, sitting Indian style, and hold the other's hands."

Tony and Ziva exchanged an awkward glance before doing what they were told. Their grip on each other was casual but Ziva liked the comforting warmth of Tony's hands on hers.

The instructor, who was still nameless, came around making sure everyone was doing it right. "Oh! Honey, I'm in _love_ with your top!" the guy squealed to Ziva, who smiled politely. "Where did you get it?" he asked enthusiastically. "You know what? Tell me after class." he whispered to her.

When he bounced over to the next couple, Ziva gave Tony a smiling look, which he returned.

"Ok, now I want both of you to breathe slowly, in and out. Breathing is the most important thing during childbirth, right after pushing that sucker out." he chuckled.

A few minutes of slow breathing, followed by some floor excersies, and some useless(according to Ziva) ball bouncing later;

"Ok, now before we leave…"

"That's it!" Tony mocked whined in disappointment to Ziva, who shot him a teasing glare.

"I want to do a little _talking_ excise right now." he explained, and Tony rolled his eyes a bit.

"Now, I want you to look into you're partners eyes." he began, and Tony's focus immediately went to Ziva's face, who shyly looked away momentarily.

"Now, guys, repeat after me. 'Thank you.'"

"Thank you." Tony said with a charming smile.

"'For giving me this baby'."

"For giving me this baby." Tony continued, unsurely as Ziva rolled her eyes.

"'I promise, that I will always be there for you'."

"I promise I will always be there for you." Tony repeated, more confidently this time. And Ziva could feel him affectionately rub her knuckles with his thumb.

"Now, I want to say this part, from your heart. Don't make me make you say it. I want you to tell your partner that she's beautiful and how much you care for her."

Tony took in a deep breath and opened his mouth, but Ziva stopped him. "Tony, you do not have to do this." he almost thought it sounded like a plea.

But Tony shook his head, the smile still plastered to his face.

"You, Ziva David, are beautiful." he began as she smirked, shaking her head and blushing slightly.

"You are my partner, and you always have my six, and I've always got yours. And, I love you for that." he admitted slowly.

Ziva's eyes locked with Tony's as she kindly looked at his regular Dinozzo smile. Her eyes immediately looked down to her lap as she nodded slowly, taking in a breath.

Neither had noticed the instructor lingering on every word and glance the two shared. "That was so beautiful." he whispered, making Ziva jump a bit. "I always cry during this part." he said, wiping a tear from his eye.

Ziva and Tony exchanged this-guy-is-insane smile.

* * *

Tony pulled up to Ziva apartment. She turned slowly to face him and instead of the small goodbye and thank you she normally gave him, she asked him a question after a small hesitation. "Did you really mean what you said at the class?"

"Every word." he smiled, causing her to blush ever so slightly.

She smiled at him, nodding before cupping his face in her hands, slowly inching towards him as she placed a chaste kiss on his cheek, only for a second.

She pulled back slowly, a small smile on her face, while his eyes were narrowed on hers. "Thank you, Tony." she said whispered slowly.

Turning around, she got out of the car and could feel the presence of his car watch her as jiggled with the keys to her apartment. With the opening of the door, and one final goodbye wave, Ziva was enjoyed the solitude of her warm apartment.

She placed a hand lovingly over her stomach and enjoyed the comforting of her unborn daughter's gentle kicking. "I love you too." she whispered to herself.


	11. Lucky

_(6 months pregnant)_

"No!"

"Please Ziva!" Tony whined childishly.

"Tony, I am not wearing that!" she shouted, but couldn't hold back a smile.

"Zee-vah!" he whined again, adding a puppy dog face.

"No! You have locked me out of my apartment for two days! I am not being dragged into your childish games and putting on that blindfold! I just want to go inside." she protested, trying to get past him and unlock the door, but he leaned his body against the door, blocking her from any entrance.

"But it won't be a surprise if you don't wear it!" he pointed out.

"I do not like surprises!" she yelled back.

"So how come you left us in charge of decorating the nursery?" he questioned with a smirk.

Ziva rolled her eyes. "I thought that if-" then his words sunk into her. "I did not tell you to _decorate_ the nursery, only to _paint_ it! Tony I cannot beli-"

"Ziva, you're going to _love_ it." he said gently wrapping his hands around her wrists.

She finally gave in with a sigh. "Fine. But no blindfold."

"Fine." he copied. "But…" he trailed off slightly and changed his mocking demeanor to a teasing one. "Then we're going to have to blindfold her." he finished looking down at her stomach.

"What?" she cried with a laugh, clutching her stomach.

He took the bandana and covered her stomach with it as she playfully smacked him away. "Come on, I think I can get it to fit around." he said, mockingly serious in his attempt to cover her bulging stomach with the red cloth.

"No! Tony! Stop!" she shrieked playfully, blocking his attempts to reach her unborn child. "Fine!" she shouted, stopping him in his tracks.

"I will put it on!" she huffed, snatching the blindfold from him. "But only for _her_ sake." she placed a hand lovingly on her stomach.

"Oh of course." he replied sarcastically.

She glared at him before placing the blindfold back in his hands. She then turned around so he could tie it around her head.

"Ok, you can't see anything right?" he asked, turning her around and waving a hand in front of her face.

"Nothing, Tony! Can we go inside now?" she practically pleaded.

"You sure?" he teased.

"Tony, do not make me hurt you!" she threatened.

He let lose a chuckle before unlocking the door and led her slowly by the waist to the baby's nursery.

The smell of fresh paint and new wood filled Ziva's nostrils as she inhaled a deep breath.

"Ready?" an anticipated Tony whispered close to her ear.

Ziva nodded as she felt Tony's hand slowly pull one end of the bandana, until it was completely off her closed eyes.

When he saw no reaction he brought his head to watch her expression and saw her eyes closed. "You can open them now." he laughed.

She blushed slightly before slowly opening her eyes, gasping as soon as she did. Tony could see the admiration and awe in her eyes as she walked towards the middle of the nursery.

All four walls depicted a different city of importance to Ziva, with a different time of day filling the background.

"Haifa" she whispered to herself at the sight of the left wall. A magnificent mural of the Bahia Shrine and surrounding gardens painted on top of a mix of yellows and light blue was on the wall.

"D.C." Ziva pointed out, looking at the back wall, where the black, handcrafted, wooden crib leaned against. A nighttime illustration of a Washington D.C setting was painted, the background colors being dark blue and specks of silver. In the corner of that wall you could see the navy yard, a blue dodge charger driving up one of the streets.

"Paris" she noted in awe at the right wall. A perfect mixture of pinks, purples, and dark oranges filled the wall where a beautiful Parisian scene during the shadow of the night was depicted. The same view Tony and she had seen from their hotel. In the middle of the sky, to the right of the painted Eiffel Tower, in gold cursive, said "C'est la Vie."

"And Tel Aviv." she breathed, turning around. It was early morning in this scene and the Israeli district's skyline was displayed on the wall in front of a paint consisting of light blue, sea green, and pale yellow.

"Tony…" she trailed off, hormones kicking in, making her eyes start to tear. "This is…amazing." she whispered, walking to the black dresser underneath the gold writing in the Paris sunset.

Displayed on the purple runner placed on top of the dresser were a collection of black and white photos. There was at least one individual picture of each of the team members, Ducky, Abby, and even Palmer included. A group picture of the team, taken at a Christmas party a few years ago. There were a few other miscellaneous shots of the team at various occasions. Towards the back was a simple picture of Jenny and towards the front was the infamous Paris snapshot, in black and white, just like Ziva wanted it. Next to a sonogram picture was one of a newly pregnant Ziva and a goofy looking Tony, he had whispered a forgotten joke into her ear, and she had laughed, whether it be at the joke or just his demeanor, but Abby had captured the moment and it would now last a lifetime.

In the middle of the cluster of photos and was a simple black frame, no picture, just a plain white background. She picked it up curiously, turning around to face Tony, and shot him a confused look.

"It's for the baby's first picture." he explained; still watching her, with a smile, admiring the once empty room.

The rest of the furniture was black, the sheets, linens, pillows, and other accessories being various bold colors that matched the paints mixed into the backgrounds of the four walls.

Ziva dared to look up, but was glad she did. The silver ceiling was decorated with white swirls that could make Van Gough jealous.

She walked to the corner of the room, where a jet-black rocking chair sat, a few meaningful stuffed animals where scattred on the seat and surrounding area; a bat, a gray fox, a duck, spaniel, scorpion, a black Persian horse, some kind of troll looking thing dressed in scrubs, an adorable ninja, and a brown furry teddy bear complete with miniature Ray Bans.

After letting out a small chuckle at the display, she turned around to face Tony. "And when you pick a name, I saw these cool letter mat, rug things that I could get, you could lay it out in front of the crib if you want."

A teary Ziva nodded. "Tony…this is, perfect." she paused, watching him smile. "How-how did you do all this?" she asked, walking towards him.

"A guy owes me a favor." he smiled.

"It's amazing, I-I don't know what to say." she exclaimed, giving the room one last look, before continuing her journey to Tony.

"Just say you like it." he replied charmingly.

"Like it? Tony I love it!" she let loosed a smile before gently clutching her stomach. "And apparently so does she." Ziva grabbed Tony's hand and placed it on her stomach, so they could both feel the baby kicking excitedly from inside Ziva.

They both shared a laugh before Ziva gave him a small kiss on the cheek. "Thank you…so much, for everything."

Their eyes met and their lips threatened to touch, but before anything happen, the sound of platform boots hurrying into the apartment penetrated the comfortable silence.

"Did she see it, did she see it, did she see it?" an overly hyper Abby squealed from the hallway. She rushed in with a toothy grin plastered on her face until she saw Ziva.

"Dammit, Tony! You we're supposed to wait for us!" she scolded him with a mockingly angry face. "So," she put her focus on Ziva "Do you like it?" her excited tone asked.

"Abby, I love it." she replied kindly, making her way over to the Goth, as Abby wrapped her arms around Ziva. "Oh!" Abby exclaimed at the feel of Ziva's round stomach pressing against hers. "She's kicking!" she pointed out, putting a hand to Ziva's stomach. "Cool…" she whispered to herself at the gentle kicks.

The sound of shoes coming towards the nursery and slightly heavy breathing were heard. "Jeez Abs, how do you run in those shoes?" McGee questioned, catching his breath.

"What's wrong McCardio? Can't catch up?" Tony teased before Tim gave him a glare.

He then looked up at Ziva. "So, do you like it?" he asked.

"It is amazing." she replied, giving him a friendly hug.

"I do hope this did not cost you much." she addressed them all.

Tony shook his head. "Walls were a favor."

"And anything with color is a present from us." Tim stated, motioning to Abby, who smiled.

"What about the furniture?"

"Got bored making the same damn boat all the time." Gibbs said, entering the nursery, a small smile tugging at his lips.

"You _made_ all these?" Ziva asked in amazement.

Gibbs shrugged. "Gibbs…they are beautiful." she said, running a hand over the smooth edge of the crib.

Ducky entered the room. "Hello darling! I see you got acquainted with the new nursery."

"Ducky, you knew too?"

He gave her a small chuckle and nodded.

Ziva looked around at all the people in the room, her team, her family.

"She is going to be very lucky." she smiled, rubbing her hand over her stomach.

* * *

**And the links for my inspirations for the walls will be posted on my profile as soon as I can. Just imagine that scene, but lighter and in painting form.**


	12. Merry Little Christmas

__

(Late December)

The bullpen was quite, as it usually was on Christmas Eve.

Usually by this time, Gibbs had allowed the team up to MTAC for an hour or so as a break from the case, but surprisingly, no case. Tony had called it a Christmas miracle, but for Ziva, it was pure luck.

Her swollen ankles were killing her and she could really do without the stairs to MTAC. But before she had to venture up there she was collecting the dozen or so small Christmas trinkets placed on her desk. Most of them consisted of newborn onesies, colorful toys, and fluffy stuffed animals. She took out a small teddy bear, it was simple in design, brown and fluffy with button eyes and a perfectly pink stitched mouth. She rubbed the soft material and smiled, 5 more weeks and she'd have a beautiful little daughter, someone to play with these toys and wear these clothes.

She got up slowly, pulling cotton of her green long sleeve tee down over her stomach more. She had hardly made her way out of the bullpen when she spotted Tony, making a B-line right for her. When he reached her, he looped his arm in hers and brought her, backwards, back to her desk. "Hold your horses preggo probie." he said, sitting her down at her chair.

Ziva furrowed her eyebrows in confusion and shot a smirk towards him. "Here." he said, pulling a small present from behind him and placing it on her desk. "Merry Christmas." he smiled.

"I do not celebrate Christmas." she smiled intriguingly.

"Happy Hanukah!" he beamed, pushing the bag closer to her.

"A little late?" she quirked an eyebrow.

"Open it." his smile had yet to leave his face.

She watched him for another moment, then looked down to the bag. Slowly, she lifted the thin green and red paper from the snowman bag to reveal a small white onesie. Lifting it up in front of her, Tony could see her delight growing. She let out a laugh. Tony smiled.

The onesie was pure white with black lettering in the middle. "Special Agent In Training" it said. She chuckled again.

"That's the back, turn it around." he commanded joyfully.

She flipped it to see the front. In the top right corner was a small pressed on NCIS Special Agent badge. "Took me a while to find that. They had FBI, CIA, everything but NCIS."

She laughed, the gesture was sweet. "Thank you Tony. It is adorable." the words were sweet and genuine.

"Can I?" he said, looking at her stomach.

Ziva suppressed a laugh and nodded, letting his hand run over her bulging middle.

He looked up at her, and then back at her unborn baby.

"Merry Christmas baby ninja."


	13. Contractions

_(8 ½ months pregnant)_

Ziva waddled back from the bathroom; she abruptly clutched her stomach grimacing in slight pain. She made it to her desk and sat down with a deep breath.

"You okay?" Tony, who had been watching her since she came out of the bathroom, asked from his desk.

"Just another contraction." she clenched her jaw, and tried to keep her breathing steady.

Tony sighed, rolling his eyes. "Let me take you to the hospital." he pleaded, but she shook her head.

Just then, McGee entered the bullpen. "Why does Ziva need to go to the hospital?" he questioned slowly and unsurely.

"She's been having contractions for the past hour." Tony answered, obviously annoyed at the fact that she did not want to go to the hospital.

Tim shot Ziva a concerned look. "They are only 10 minutes apart. Dr. Johnson said I should be concerned when they are six minutes. I am not going to sit in a hospital for more time than needed. And it may just be a false alarm. I am not due for another two weeks." she explained, looking at Tony, who was shifting in his seat.

Tim shrugged and headed to his desk. A few seconds passed, as well as the contraction and Ziva relaxed into his seat. Tony watched as she began to fan herself with a random file as she searched through her desk for something. "Tony, please, my water has not even broken."

"Come on," he got up and headed for his desk. "Let's go down to autopsy, it's cool in there." She gave him a short look, but it _was_ very hot in the bullpen, strangely hot for a Feburary morning.

"Fine." she sighed, letting him loop his arm around her and help her up.

Still arm and arm, they walked towards the elevator and rode it down to autopsy.

"Ah! Ziva, Anthony. Is there anything I can do for you today?" Ducky greeted as the autopsy doors hissed open.

"You got an empty table to spare?" Tony asked, looking around the room.

"Tony, I am not sitting on an autopsy table." she rationalized with him, and then turned to Ducky. "I just need to sit down, _in a chair_. It is too hot upstairs." she explained.

Ducky, with a hint of a smile, nodded, took her from Tony's arm, and lead her to his desk chair.

"She's having contractions Duck, can you please tell her to go to the hospital?" Tony pleaded.

Concern crossed the doctor's face as he turned to Ziva. "How far apart are they?"

"Ten minutes. I told Tony, I am not going to be sitting in a hospital bed for more time than I need." she said restlessly as Ducky placed a finger to her neck and timed her heart rate.

Ducky let out a hopeless sigh. "For her sake, Anthony, we can afford to wait an hour or two."

Tony rubbed a hand over his face, letting out a frustrated sigh. Before getting to put another opinion in, the autopsy doors slid open again, revealing a chirpy Abby.

She held a folder in her hand and her pigtails seemed bouncier. "Hey Duck, got the petty officers stomach contents." she said absently, watching Ziva with concern. "You okay?"

Tony opened his mouth to speak but was cut off my Ziva. "I am fine." But she immediately grabbed her stomach, tightening her face.

"Nine minutes." Tony stated looking at his watch.

"Is she going into labor?" Abby asked in disbelief.

"Abby I am fine." Ziva said through her clenched teeth.

Tony put out his hand for her to squeeze and immediately regretted it, forcing himself to not let out the yelp he had been holding once her death grip wrapped around his palm.

"I'll go get some blankets!" Abby rushed out of the lab.

"For what?" Tony called, but she was already gone.

Ziva let out a frustrated sigh, looking towards the ceiling as she let the contraction pass.

Tony slipped his hand from her grip shaking it in pain before pulling it towards his chest. "Ow!" he whined. "Jeez, I think you broke it!"

"That will be nothing compared to what damage she will do when she actually has to _push_." Ducky shared a small chuckle with Ziva at Tony's look of horror.

And as quick as she had left, Abby had been back. "Here." she handed Ziva a rolled up blanket. "Use this as a pillow." Abby placed it behind Ziva's head as she silently thanked her.

A couple of minutes of concerned looks from all three people in autopsy later, another contraction hit Ziva. She grabbed Tony's hand as Abby shot Ducky a concerned look.

"It's only been three minutes since the last one!" Abby whispered quickly to Ducky, who shared her worry.

"Yes, it has." he confirmed with his watch. "Ziva, lift up your legs, I need to check your dialation." she did as she was told and felt Tony's hand holding her shoulders supportively. "Ziva, you're nine inches." Ducky said, concern stitched to every word.

"That is impossible. I was only 4 inches yesterday."

"And I believe your water just broke." Ducky stated, gesturing to Abby to bring over a towel.

As Ziva struggled through another contraction Tony looked up at Ducky. "We gotta get her to the hospital."

Ducky nodded, moving towards Ziva to help Tony lift her out of the seat. Once on her feet, she let out another cry of pain. "No." she barely managed to get out.

"What? What is it?" Tony asked hastily, worry dripping from every word.

"My legs…I can't." she said, allowing herself to sit back down.

"A contraction!" Tony exclaimed with a smile.

"No, it hurts."

"No, I mean you used a contraction." Abby shot him a not-the-time look.

"You can't walk?" Tony asked worringly

She glared up at him. "Believe me, if I could I would." she breathed as the contraction continued.

The sound of the doors opening penetrated the tension in the room.

"What's going on?" Gibbs asked, seeing Ziva trying to control her breathing.

"The baby's coming. Her contractions jumped from nine minutes apart to three. And she says it hurts to walk." Abby quickly explained as Tim walked in behind Gibbs, just catching what she had said.

A rush of concern hit Gibbs expression, as he looked around the room. "Duck, how long we got?"

"With a jump like this…I estimate half an hour, the most." he tried not to seem too dramatic.

Gibbs took another look around at the people in the room; Abby, looking like she was on the edge of a breakdown, biting her lip and playing nervously with her fingernails. Tony, who was crouched beside Ziva, holding her hand in support, he looked up at Gibbs, but Ziva was still his first priority. Ducky, who had a solemn yet worried look stained in his wrinkles, as he stood close to Ziva. Tim, whose focus was on Gibbs, ready for any command given, but glanced every few seconds towards Ziva.

A few seconds of contemplation later, he knew what had to be done.

"McGee, call an ambulance." he commanded. Tim nodded, reaching for his phone and heading out to the hallway to make the call.

Ziva's eyes shot up at his voice.

"Duck, spread out a blanket. Dinozzo, help me get her onto on the table." Tony swallowed but waited for his boss to get a supporting hold on Ziva. They lifted her up, before she could protest, and struggled for the first table.

As they slowly and steadily used most of their strength to lift the heavily pregnant Ziva up on the covered table, Gibbs talked to Abby.

"Abs." he said with a breath. "You ever deliver a baby before?" he asked settling Ziva down on the table.

"Gibbs?" Ziva asked slightly confused.

Abby was taken out of a trance caused by the rushing and rising tension in the room. "Um, yeah. I was there for my sister-in-law. And there was that one winter where the roads were closed. My mom and I delivered a few." she rambled nervously.

"Good. You can help Ducky." he motioned towards the scotsman.

She looked at him in slight disbelief, but he nodded with a stern face. And with a salute, she headed for the back to grab some scrubs.

"Gibbs…" Ziva had a mixture of nervousness, pain, and confusion in her voice.

He looked to Tony, whose expression matched Ziva's.

Ducky checked her dilation as Abby came up next to Ziva, placed a wet rag on her head. "She's at nine centimeters." Ducky warned.

With a tired look, Gibbs gave the final command. He turned to Ziva. "Looks like you're having this kid in autopsy."


	14. Ironic Birth, But With Tony By My Side

_(Autopsy; Feburary 2nd)_

Ziva's eyes grew wide at Gibbs' words.

"No! I am _not_ having my baby in autopsy!" she shouted in disbelief, looking at Tony for backup.

But he just shrugged. "Ziva, you can't walk, and the she's practically here already!"

Ziva tried desperately to control her breathing, looking back at Gibbs for one final word.

"Ziver." he said sternly. But before he could say another word Ziva yelped in pain, as did Tony.

Tony's face twisted into pain as Ziva tightly clenched his hand at the latest contraction."Ziva, dear, next contraction, I am going to need you to push." Ducky said calmly as Ziva nodded. Turning his attention to Abby he spoke again "Abigail, go get Mr. Palmer, he should be in the lavatory."

"Will do!" she turned on the heel of her platform and jogged to the bathroom door, seconds later dragging a resistant Jimmy out of the door by his scrubs' collar."No! N-no, Abby I can't! I-I've never delivered a baby before!" he stuttered, but Abby ignored his pleas.

"Come on Jimster, it's not that hard." she said, still pulling him towards the table.

"No, Abby, you, you don't understand. I am very bad around these th-" but one look at Ziva's "lady parts" and he hit the ground.

Abby stood there in shock, her eyes wide and hands over her mouth. "Oh my god." Tony muttered with an eye roll.

"Are you joking me?" Ziva shouted, no one attempted to fix her mistake.

"McGee!" Gibbs yelled, catching Tim's attention and causing the young agent to come back into autopsy. "Yes boss?" he looked up, but his expression soon turned confused when he caught sight of Jimmy on the floor.

"Where the hell's that damn ambulance?" Gibbs spat.

"Uh…on its way, but with rush hour traffic…" he trailed off as he kept his eyes on Jimmy. "Is he okay?"

Gibbs let out a frustrated sigh. "Get him outta here."

Tim nodded and dragged an unconscious Palmer out of autopsy by his arms.

"Alright Ziva, I think the time has come." Ducky stated as Abby got a blanket ready.

Ziva looked to Tony, who smiled sincerely. "You can do this." he whispered.

She nodded and turned back to Ducky, hand still clutching Tony's, who was crouched down so that his head was at her level with one arm around her shoulder. She focused on Abby, who only gave her positive looks. And soon she felt the soft brushing of Gibbs thumb over her hair comfortingly, who let her grab his palm with her other free hand.

Taking one more breath she began pushing, hearing some comforting words from Tony and a few excited squeals from Abby.

Then, she heard it, or _her_ actually.

The sound of an infant crying, _her_ _baby_ crying.

Letting out a relieved breath, she let her head drop momentarily onto Tony's arm. "You did great, Ziva." he whispered into her hair before bringing his lips to her curls.

Ducky offered a surgical scissor to Tony, prompting him to cut the umbilical cord. Once unattached, the newborn was wrapped in a small towel by Abby, who could hardly contain her excitement.

"Ziva, she's beautiful." Abby gasped, walking towards Ziva and handing her the bundle.

Ziva tried to catch her breath as she looked down at her daughter, who had calmed down when she was placed in her mother's arms. The baby's dark brown hair stuck up in all different directions and her small nose was scrunched perfectly in the middle of her face. Her smile couldn't wider as she held back tears, her attention only on the small newborn girl in her hands.

Abby let her attention wander from the baby to Gibbs. Her face lit up when she saw the smile being tugged by his lips.

Tony kept his focus on Ziva's expression, as she studied her daughter lovingly, his finger absently playing with Ziva's hair.

"I told you it was all going to be worth it." Abby whispered to Ziva, whose attention didn't leave her daughter. Instead, she shared a look with Tony.

McGee had entered autopsy in a hurry, but had slowed down when he saw what was in Ziva's arms. He let a smile crawl upon his face, before Abby noticed him enter.

She bounced over to him took his hand, leading him over to the autopsy table to get a better look at the baby.

After a few moments of happy glances and pointing out the newborn's adorable characteristics, Tim remembered why he had come in, in the first place. He opened his mouth to speak but the entering paramedics beat him to it.

"What the hell is going on here?" Vance asked Gibbs in disbelief as the paramedics rushed around him.

"Baby came early." Gibbs explained casually.

"Are you serious?" he questioned, as they stood near Ducky's desk, witnessing the scene unfold.

"Does that look serious?" he motioned to Ziva and the newborn.

Vance's expression soften as he watched the paramedics transfer Ziva onto a gurney, her daughter still in her arms.

"Little ironic, life in a place of death." he shared a look with Gibbs, who had chuckled at the insight.

"He okay?" a random paramedic asked Ducky, pointing to Palmer, who was still unconscious on the floor.

He looked to Jimmy, who was just starting to come back to it. "He's fine." Ducky said, brushing it off.

"Abby!" Ziva called out.

"Yes?" she asked merrily.

"Can you go down to my apartment and grab my overnight bag. It is on the dresser next to my bed?"

"Of course!" she looped her arm with Tim's. "Come one, McGee, let's roll."

"Can he come with me?" Ziva asked hastily, Tony's hand still holding hers, as they rolled the gurney out the back and to the garage.

"Sure. Not gunna argue with a man that has a gun on his hip." he joked nervously.

Tony looked down, not even remembering he hadn't taken his gun out of its holster. He shared a smile with Ziva.

The ride to the hospital was a short one and once on the maternity level, a doctor's took the girl out of Ziva's arms.

She looked up worryingly. "Don't worry, we just need to make sure she's healthy, we'll have her back to you in a few minutes." The doctor reassured her as Tony and another doctor helped her into a wheelchair and towards and empty room.

With Tony's help, she relaxed comfortably into the bed. "I can see her soon right?" Ziva asked the doctor nervously.

"As soon as she's ready I'll have her brought up." he said with a smile, as he checked her heart rate and got her all situated and checked in.

He eventually left, leaving Tony and Ziva alone. "Well, now you don't have to spend more than you need in the hospital." he joked, loosening his tie and then taking it off completely.

Ziva let out a small chuckle as Tony pulled up a chair next to her bed. Before he sat down, he was stopped by Ziva's voice.

"Can you get me that cloth dress?" she asked quietly, he nodded and grabbed the dress that was left at the foot of her bed.

She looked up at him, with innocent eyes. "Could you…turn around, Tony?" she laughed.

"What? Oh! Yea, sure." he obliged nervously, facing the wall.

A few quick seconds later, she was dress, her other clothes discarded by her bedside.

He sat on the chair by her side; his finger brushed a few stray hairs away from her face. "You okay?" he asked with a smile.

"Once I get her back, I will be perfect." she breathed.

Curling his lips inward, he nodded. "You did a great job." he said sweetly. "You must be tired though." he chuckled.

"Very." she mumbled, but her eyes soon sprang to life when the door opened and a nurse entered with her daughter.

"Well, you're all set." she said happily, handing the baby over to an eager Ziva. "She's fine, and we'll have a nurse come check on you in a little bit." she said before leaving.

Ziva's fingers traveled slowly over her daughter's small face until they made their way up to her full head of black hair.

"Jeez, I don't think I've seen that much hair on a baby." Tony laughed, rubbing the baby's small fingers.

"And her eyes, their so..wide, and...alert." he chuckled. "You know, my mom said my eyes were always open when I was a baby." the baby's blue eyes looked peaceful in their sockets.

Ziva brought her up to her lips, giving her a small kiss on the forehead. "She is perfect."

"You're both so amazing." Tony whispered, his focus left the baby and went to Ziva. "And beautiful." he added quietly.

"I am a mess, Tony." she blushed.

"_I_ don't think so." he laughed, kissing her temple.

There was a comfortable silence as Ziva's eyes left her daughter's and looking into Tony's warmly. And with another smile, she looked back at her daughter.

"Do you have a name yet?"

"Now, that I have seen her…yes." she was still intrigued by the baby's facial movements.

"So…what is it?" he implied.

"Not yet. Everyone should be here." she informed him.

Ziva stared lovingly at her newborn daughter, the smile hadn't left her face. She pressed her lips gently to the newborns forehead. "Hello, it's mommy." she whispered

She could not remember a time where she was happier.


	15. Hey There Delilah

_(Hospital)_

It had been a few hours since the baby was born. Everyone had arrived and the baby, whose name was still not revealed by Ziva, was being held comfortably in her mother's arms.

Visiting hours were soon closing to an end and by now everyone had already had held the baby and had tossed a few names around but Ziva only smiled at the suggestions.

And now, with the nurse still pestering them about regulations, the team sat around Ziva's bed.

Tony was leaning on the head of the bed, watching as Ziva gently stroke the baby's cheek. Abby and McGee sat on the edge of the radiator in front of the window. The former lovers looked sweetly onto the site of mother and daughter and Abby soon felt comfortable enough to lean her head tiredly on Tim's shoulder.

Ducky made himself comfortable in the chair at the foot of the bed with Gibbs easily balancing himself on the arm of the chair.

"The name? Pleease!" Tony whined as he tucked a loose strand of hair behind her hair, feeling a glare from Gibbs.

Ziva looked up at him, narrowing her eyes on him. "Are you sure you want to know?" she asked smugly.

"Yes!" Tony, McGee, and Abby said in unison, causing a smirk to be exchanged between Gibbs and Ducky.

Ziva smiled, looking down at her daughter she spoke. "Delilah." she whispered.

Abby's head slowly lifted from Tim's shoulder as her smile grew wide, as did everyone else's. "I…love it!" Abby said slowly.

"It's a perfect name. She looks like a Delilah." Tim agreed as he studied the baby, whose peaceful eyes traveled around the room.

"I think it's very suiting. Meaning "One who weakens" in Hebrew." Ducky said with a smile.

"It also can mean 'delicate'" Ziva added, looking down at her daughter lovingly.

But before further words could be said, the head nurse who had been pestering them about visitor's hours passed the room, taking a double take when she saw the big gathering. "I thought I told you nine o'clock!" she scolded, barging in on their moment.

"Ma'm." Gibbs said calmly, giving her an easy look. "We were just leaving."

"Mmhmm." the nurse hummed, annoyance dripping from her voice as she glared at Gibbs.

Gibbs gave another smirk and turned to Ziva. He leaned down to her ear and whispered "I'm proud of you." softly into her ear before gently kissing her temple.

She nodded, closing her eyes to prevent any tears from falling as the rest of them bid her goodnight.

The nurse started to wave her hands wildly, commandingly them sternly in her southern accent to 'scram'. She turned back when she saw Tony hadn't moved.

"You the father or something?" she asked, narrowing her eyes on him.

"Or something." he said with smirk.

Ziva rolled his eyes. "He _is_ the father." she said sweetly, anything to get the nurse out of her room.

"I'll be back as early as I ca-" Abby tried to get in, but was cut off by the nurse closing the door, shooing them out.

A comfortable silence lingered in the room as the two agents continued to be fascinated with the newborn. Her smooth, olive skin, soft smile, and sea-blue eyes were hard to resist.

"Hey there, Delilah." Tony breathed in a musical voice as he allowed her to wrap her hand around his finger.

He let out a small laugh, causing Ziva to shoot him a questioning look. "It's a song, 'Hey There Delilah' by The Plain White Shirts or something like that." he explained with another chuckle.

Ziva smiled, turning back to Delilah. As Ziva let out a yawn, she felt Tony shift his weight slightly on the bed. "You should get some sleep." he offered.

She nodded tiredly, giving Delilah a small peck on the forehead before hesitantly giving her up to Tony, who placed the newborn in her crib and rolled it closer to the bed.

He was about to touchdown on the chair when Ziva stopped him. "No, Tony."

He gave her a confused expression. "That chair is not good for your back." she said caringly, moving herself slightly over. "We can fit." she smiled.

"No, no. Ziva, you need some sleep, I can last a day or two on a chair." he said sitting down.

"Tony, do not make me expose Delilah to violence." she warned lightly. "Lay down."

Tony let out a tired sigh. "Fine, but only for Delilah's sake." he smirked.

He awkwardly climbed into the bed, casually wrapping his arm around her shoulder for the sake of more room. Feeling comfortable, she sunk slightly into his embrace, a gesture which he welcomed.

She could feel the steady pace of his breathing as she laid her head on his arm, their bodies lingering next to each other. Once they were comfortable, Tony pulled the crib closer to the bedside.

"She really is beautiful." Tony whispered, watching as Delilah started to close her eyes.

"Yes," Ziva's head moved to his shoulder casually. "She is."

"You did a _great_ job." he complimented softly after a short pause.

Another silence lingered in the room for a short while before Tony caught a glance towards Ziva, figuring she was asleep, but instead saw her with tears streaming down her cheeks.

"You okay?" he asked softly, wiping a few tears with his thumb.

"I am perfect, actually." she whispered. "It is just all so real."

They both enjoyed the next silence, as Tony placed his chin on the top of her head, allowing her to nuzzle deeper into his hold.

"Goodnight Delilah." Ziva whispered in the direction of the crib. "Goodnight Tony." she mumbled softly into his chest before closing her eyes and soon found herself quickly drifting into a relaxing slumber.

"Night." he muttered into her hair before placing a soft kiss to her curls.

Ziva woke to the sound of soft humming. Not feeling the warmness had she felt throughout the night, she forced herself to open her eyes, immediately regretting it as sunlight mercilessly penetrated her eyesight.

A few seconds of blinking and adjusting her eyes, brought her back to the hospital. She felt around in search for Tony but instead found him by the window.

A smile crept along her lips as she watched Tony gently bounce the bundle in his arms, a soft tune escaping his mouth could be heard.

"Tony?" she asked tiredly. Looking at the clock on the nightstand she realized why it was so bright out, it was six in the morning and the sun was just greeting the metropolitan area.

He turned around to face her, and Ziva laughed as both her daughter's and her father's hair matchingly stuck up in all different directions.

"She was stirring a little bit, thought I'd let you sleep." he explained in a hush tone.

Ziva admired how lovingly he held Delilah, how even though his focus switched from her to her daughter, the newborn was still his first priority.

"I do hope she did not cause you too much trouble." Ziva said, untangling her hair with her fingers.

"No, not a big deal. And plus, I thought she would enjoy seeing her first sunrise." he smiled charmingly.

She paused before saying anything else. "What were you singing?" she asked softly.

"What?" she could see his cheeks getting red, as he moved his focus back to Delilah. "I wasn't singing." he blushed, although it was not noticeable, to anyone who did not know him, through his Italian olive skin.

"Yes you were." she smirked, "It sounded nice." she offered slowly.

His cheeks grew red as he avoided eye contact with her and instead watched as Delilah's blue eyes started to glisten as they opened. He hesitated, but there was no use lying to Ziva, he wasn't going to win. "Just…just that song, the one with her name. She likes it." he admitted.

He wandered over to the bedside, gently handing over Delilah to Ziva.

"I love you." she whispered to her daughter, kissing her nose.

Tony sat on the side of the bed and wrapped an arm around Ziva. "I love you too." he said in a high pitched voice.

Ziva turned her head and gave him a strange look.

"Oh, come on, you know that's what she's thinking."


	16. Home

_(The Next Day)_

"Welcome home Delilah!" Tony beamed as he swung open the door to Ziva's apartment letting Ziva, who was holding her sleeping daughter lovingly in her arms, walk in as he struggled to keep the door open while his hands were carrying a duffle bag and diapers.

After putting down the bags Tony followed Ziva to the nursery. She put Delilah in her crib and then paused, looking down at her daughter with kind eyes.

Tony lingered close to her, close enough that she could rest her head on his shoulder as they both admired the sleeping newborn.

"She looks so…peaceful." Ziva breathed.

Tony let out a small chuckle as a thought crossed his mind. "What?" Ziva asked with traces of a smile embedded on her lips.

"Nothing. Just…thinking."

"About what?" she asked intriguingly, looking up to catch his expression.

"It's just… 48 hours ago, she was in your stomach, and now…" he trailed off in his words.

Ziva smiled and turned back to her daughter, her head still resting on his arm.

"What if I'm not a good mom?" she mused sadly.

Tony rolled his eyes. "I knew you were going to ask that." he dropped his head on hers. "You are going to be the single most _awesome_ mom ever." he said charmingly. "It's inevitable."

"Nothing is inevitable." she smirked.

He paused for a second, contemplating his next words. "There are exceptions."

Ziva watched her newborn daughter for another minute, watching her chest rise and fall slowly. Delilah's dark hair covered the entire top of her olive-skinned head. She reached down in the basinet and gently rubbed her daughter's fragile fingers. "She's so...pure."

Tony simply smiled. "I do not even want to expose her to anything. Especially our job." she shook her head. She loved her job, but she loved Delilah more. "Do you think it would be irrational if i just kept her in my arms for the rest of her life?" she said with a smile, tracing her finger down Delilah's smooth cheek.

"Prom would be a tad awkward." Tony chuckled.

A few minutes of comfortable silence later, Tony caught Ziva in the middle of a yawn. "You're tired." he pointed out.

"How did you guess?" she teased with another yawn.

Tony let out another chuckle before wrapping an arm around her waist and leading her into her bedroom. "You should go to sleep." he whispered into her hair.

He then placed her gently on the bed, tugging the covers over her once she was settled in. Ziva was already half asleep by the time the covers reached her shoulder and Tony brushed a few stay hairs out of her face.

"Couch?" she asked groggily.

Tony smiled at her sleep demeanor. "Yea, I'll be on the couch." he said, watching her smile with closed eyes.

He lingered over her bed for another moment before he realized he was staring at her. Quickly realizing he was ogling, he turned around and headed for the couch.

He crashed down on the couch, looking around the living room for some unknown reason. And for another unknown reason, among the diapers and multicolored rattles, he felt comfortable.

* * *

_(2 months later; April)_

Ziva hadn't realized it yet, but she and Tony had become remarkably closer. She was so busy worrying about Delilah that she had become immune to even think twice when Tony kissed her cheek when he entered her apartment or how much more she laughed at his jokes and smiled when he was around; the way he almost always had his arm around her shoulder or waist had become second nature to her.

And since Ziva was still on maternity leave, Tony came to her apartment practically every night, usually with dinner and a movie. And tonight was no different. Except for the fact that as Tony was about to leave, he found out his car would not start. Ziva had offered to drive Tony home. He had hesitantly accepted and now Tony, Ziva and Delilah were packed into the red mini cooper and only a few blocks from Tony's apartment.

"It is just unrealistic." Ziva protested as Tony shook his head with a smile.

"It's just a movie! Wow. I can't believe I just said that." they shared a small laugh.

"There is no way a man can live inside the stomach of a whale, and for that long! Why give children false hope?" she questioned as the sound of fire engines became louder.

"Pinocchio is a classic. It might not make sense, but still, a classic's a class-" he stopped dead in his sentence as they turned onto his block, but were stopped by yellow tape and two police men directing traffic.

Tony's mouth dropped in disbelief as he saw his building up in flames and four fire engines huddle around the flames as three dozen or so firemen rushed around the scene hurryingly.

"What the hell…" he trailed off in his own words.

"Tony…" she looked at him comfortingly, but before another word could be said, Tony had gotten out of the car and was moving towards his apartment. But he was stopped midway by the two policemen.

"What the hell is going on?" he shouted at one of the officers.

"Sir, we can't let you go past." the officer said coldly.

"That's my building!" he protested, pointing to the burning apartment complex.

"Sir…please, we'll have details in a few minutes."

Tony rubbed his hands over his face. "I'm a fed." he remembered out loud, taking out his ID. "NCIS."

The officer took it, inspecting it and shrugged, letting him pass.

Ziva stayed in her car, thankful that Delilah was still asleep, and watched as Tony got passed the tape and began talking to the fire chief.

_(Minutes Later)_

Tony came back to the car and Ziva rolled down her window slightly. Abby was in the passenger's seat, having heard the news of the fire on the radio. She was desperately trying to reach McGee, Gibbs or Ducky to assure them that Tony was fine, but could not reach any of them.

"So, what happened?" Abby asked anxiously.

"Fire started on the third floor, neighbor left his candle burning. No fatalities, but a few bad burns." he said solemnly.

"And your apartment?" Ziva asked hesitantly.

Tony shook his head absently. "They were only able to save a few of the classics, but my Armani ties, they're, they're…" he trailed off in sadness. "Gone…"

Ziva and Abby exchanged a look at Tony's sadness for the loss of his material possessions. But Ziva's sadness grew too at the loss of Tony's home. She knew he was trying to cover his sadness with mock.

He leaned against the car, staring at the smoking building as the last of the flames were being put out. "Tony." she called, causing him to come out of his trance. "You should get some sleep." she offered, and he nodded.

"Where?" he asked sarcastically.

"At my house." she said with a sad smile. "Come on." Ziva commanded, as Abby got out of the passenger's seat and engulfed Tony in a hug. "Its gunna be ok." she whispered into his ear before letting him go.

Tony closed the car door, still absent from all that surrounded him. "I'm going to keep trying to reach them and tell them you're ok." Abby informed them before waving sadly as they drove back to Ziva's apartment.

The car ride was different than most, it was silent, no laughter or jokes or random discussions. Just, silence. And not the comfortable silence they usually shared; just a sad, lingering silence.

Ziva looped her arm in Tony's, as she usually did, and walked up the stairs, carrying Delilah in her carrier. She set Delilah's carrier down by the couch and brought Tony, who was still in a trance, to her bedroom.

She laid him on the bed, pulling the covers over him. Then rushed back to her daughter, picking her up and holding her close. "I love you." she whispered into her daughter's ear.

Ziva wandered into her room, Delilah still in her hands. She held back a few tears as she watched Tony's chest rise and fall at the steady pace of his breathing. He had lost some much on just one night. His house, his clothes, his possessions, everything and yet his rock hard exterior had not crumbled yet.

Sitting in the middle of the bed, she lay Delilah down on one side of her, stroking her cheek before lying down herself.

And soon, Ziva found herself lying down in the middle of Tony and Delilah. Tony on her left, was still in a tired trance, and Delilah on her right was peacefully drifting to sleep.

Both agents faced the baby, their bodies dangerously close to each other until Ziva reached behind her and grabbed Tony's arm, draping it over her waist. He shifted closer to her, until he was practically spooning her. But Ziva did not mind, his warmth and breath was comforting.

And so they fell asleep; Father, Mother, Daughter.

* * *

**The last scene was inspired by "9-5", an episode of **_**House**_**; it's like the last scene of the episode. It's a really cute scene, even though I'm not a huge Luddy fan. **


	17. A Night Out

_(Two weeks later)_

Tony had officially moved into Ziva's apartment, he didn't have much to move in but thankfully his insurance covered a lot and soon he'd have most of his old wardrobe back. He spent most of his nights on the couch and a few in bed with Ziva, although they kept their distance.

They were almost starting to function like a family, usually taking turns to comfort a stirring Delilah in the middle of the night, although Ziva usually woke up, she loved comforting and being around Delilah and her love for her daughter grew every day.

* * *

_(Still two weeks later…)_

Ziva loved when Tony was around, truly she did. She enjoyed being around him. But her heart also filled with happiness when he went to work. That meant she and Delilah got most of the day to themselves.

Today was one of those days.

Ziva woke up to the sound of Delilah's soft whimpers coming from the monitor next to her bed. She took a deep breath. Slowing opening her eyes, she noticed the time and the emptiness of her bedside, Tony had left for work, quietly as usual, and careful not to wake either of them.

Her bare feet felt cold against the wood floor as she walked down the hall to Delilah's room. Reaching the crib, she looked down at her daughter and gently picked her up and laid her against her chest, softly patting her back and whispering comforting words into her ear as she carried her to the kitchen.

She popped a slice of toast in the toaster, fed Delilah, ate, and then packed Delilah up in her stroller for their morning run.

After her run, Ziva quickly showered and changed. She took a half-awake Delilah out of her crib and brought her to the living room. Sitting down on the couch, she laid Delilah down so that her small feet pushed against her chest and her soft head was cupped in her mother's hands.

Ziva looked softly down at her daughter, falling in love all over again. For a few moments, she forgot everything. It was just her and Delilah, no worries, no responsibilities, nothing. Just mother and daughter.

* * *

_(A Few Days Later)_

Ziva didn't know it, but she was becoming more of a mother every day…

"Why won't you let me make you a real meal?" Ziva asked, somewhat angry, as Tony paraded around the kitchen with a peanut butter and jelly sandwich.

"Unnecessary sweetcheeks, PB&J is fine. You got your hands full anyway." he replied with a mouthful of peanut butter.

"With what? Delilah is asleep, the apartment is…" she looked around with a sigh. "…decent. I could have made you something." she sounded somewhat disappointed.

"Ziva, I'm fine." he assured her with a smile.

She let loose a small smile along with a sigh, and then trouble crossed her eyes. Ziva licked her thumb and quickly ran it across Tony's cheek, making him cringe, wiping away the swipe of peanut butter she had noticed and then sucked it off her finger, turning around to the dishes casually.

"What was that?" Tony asked shocked, rubbing his hand furiously down his cheek.

"You had peanut butter on your cheek." she said innocently, she did it to Delilah all the time with much worse than peanut butter.

"You licked me!" he cried childishly.

"I licked my _thumb_." she scoffed, continuing to wash the dishes.

Tony shivered dramatically. "And that is _nothing_, you use my _deodorant_." she reminded him with a glare.

* * *

_(Two more weeks later; Late April)_

"Come on, Ziva! Just an hour or two." Abby pleaded, hands intertwined.

"Abby, I do not know." Ziva said worryingly after having let Abby in.

"Just one drink! You need a night out!" Abby protested walking into the middle of Ziva's apartment.

"No, I do not. I am fine here." she defended, picking up Delilah from her place on the couch.

"You need a break, even if it's a small one. You haven't left your house in like two months." she whined, titling her head to the side.

"I am sorry." she said sarcastically. "I have been a little busy _taking care of a baby_." she laughed motioning to the sleeping baby in her arms.

"Ziva! You need this. Just an hour."

She let out a desperate sigh. "Even if I did agree, who would watch Delilah?" she questioned, raising an eyebrow.

"Do not fret! I got that covered." Abby said as she grabbed her cell phone and pressed the small five. "McGee! How fast can you be at Ziva's?"

* * *

Through Ziva's protests, Abby explained to McGee why she needed him. He happily agreed and was at Ziva's apartment within a few minutes.

And now McGee sat on the couch, holding Delilah almost professionally in his arms as he awkwardly watched Ziva and Abby argue.

"I am not going to make McGee watch Delilah." Ziva shook her head.

"He's fine! McGee's great with kids." she looked over at McGee with an encouraging face.

His head shot up at the sound of his name. "Yea…yes. I used to watch my sister all the time when I was younger." he nodded, his focus switching from Abby to Ziva.

"I have not been away from Delilah yet. It is too soon." Ziva's face dropped.

"And hour, that's all. Just to unwind. I promise you I'll have you home by," she looked at her watch. "Nine o'clock. No later!"

Ziva let out a frustrated sigh, there was no way she was getting out of this and she wasn't going to expose Delilah to violence _this_ early. "Fine, Abby." she breathed, watching Abby's face light up as she bounced happily.

Ziva let loose a smile at her friend's excitement then turned her focus to McGee. "Are you sure you are fine with this?" she watched as Tim looked up from his game of peek-a-boo with Delilah and nodded. "I _want to_ help."

Abby's eyes lingered on McGee longer than usual as she watched him go back to his game with Delilah. She soon came out of her trance and regained her focus on Ziva. "Now! Go! Get dressed! We're leaving in ten minutes."

Ziva headed for her bedroom. Abby plopped down on the couch, next to McGee and looked down at Delilah, then up at McGee, and back down to Delilah.

They sat there in silence for a few minutes as they teased and cooed the baby. Then, Abby's words broke their silence. "You ever think about it?" she said absently.

McGee tore his focus from Delilah and turned to Abby, looking confused although he knew what she was talking about. "About what?"

"Having kids, maybe settling down?" her eyes were still on Delilah.

Tim bit the inside of his lip. "Maybe. I mean I definitely want kids someday. But, I need to find the right woman first." she could sense the nervousness in his tone.

"Yea, me too." she sighed. "Well, not a woman, of course. I don't play for the other team, not that there's anything wrong with that, I mean I have plenty of gay friends, well, not that many actually. But, me, myself, I like guys. But _you_ know that." she rambled as her cheeks turned red.

Tim chuckled uncomfortably. Thankfully, he was saved when Ziva came into the living room. Her messy curls were out of its usual messy ponytail and hung just below her shoulders. She had practically turned her drawer upside down looking for a nice top under the mess of spit stained t-shirts and sweatpants. But she finally found one. And with the dark jeans and simple boots, she was ready to go.

"Let's get this over with." she breathed, grabbing her jacket.

Abby got off the couch, lopping her arm in Ziva's "That's the spirit." she cheered sarcastically.

"McGee, she's fed and everything, she should fall asleep in a few minutes. And Tony will be home in a half an hour or so." she called back before Abby shut the door.

"Well, Delilah, looks like it's just me and you for now." he looked down at the baby as she smiled a mischievous smile, filling the room with a certain scent.

* * *

_(Half An Hour Or So)_

Tony entered the apartment, tired from his flight from Los Angeles. Jetlag was getting the best of him and he was hoping on heading straight for the bed, or even couch, since it was closer.

"Ziva!" he whispered into the darkness of the apartment.

Instead of the Israeli beauty, McGee emerged from the nursery, holding a wide awake Delilah.

"McGeek, what are you doing here?" he eyed him suspiciously.

"Babysitting." he whispered. "Will you keep it down? I've been trying to get her down for the last fifteen minutes."

"Where's Ziva?" he asked quietly, putting down his things and plopping down on the couch.

"Out. With Abby. They should be home soon." he went back to gently bouncing Delilah.

"You want me to get her?" Tony asked, awkwardly turning his head to face Tim.

McGee rolled his eyes in defeat. Handing the baby over to her genetic father. "It's not that she's crying or anything. She just won't go to sleep."

"She likes to be awake, likes to see everything." he smiled, laying the baby across his chest. "My mom said I used to never fall asleep when I was a baby. Deli's a lot like me when I was a baby." he smiled to himself again.

"She kinda looks like you too." Tim pointed out, getting comfortable in the loveseat next to the couch.

Tony pushed his head back on his neck, getting a better look at Delilah. "Really?" he questioned. "I mean the hair sure, but…_really_?" his mind started to wander as he saw a few of his features coming out, but he brushed it off as his mind playing ticks on him.

"Yea, a little. It's probably just cause you spend so much time around her." Tim said casually, seeing Tony's sudden interest. He had always noticed that Delilah kind of looked like Tony and a few ideas had crossed his mind, but Tony would definitely be acting a lot different if he had slept with Ziva. Then there would be no doubt that Delilah was his.

"Hm." Tony hummed, still looking at Delilah. She had his nose, that was for sure. And her eyes were definitely shaped like his, her ears drooped the same way his did. But she couldn't be his, he had never slept with Ziva.

"What's going on with you and Ziva anyway." Tim finally asked, making Tony's head shoot up to meet his. "You sleep on the couch every night?" he asked curiously.

"Yea" Tony lied. "I'm just helping her out. Being a single mother's tough."

"I know. It's just…you two are getting kinda…close." he pointed out.

Tony's jaw tensed slightly. "Is there a problem?"

"No." Tim smiled. "Not at all."


	18. The Eyes Have It

_(Later That Night)_

Ziva practically burst through the door. Separation anxiety had gotten the best of her and she was eager to get Delilah back in her arms.

But she stopped when she got to the living room, a smile tugging softly at her lips when her eyes met the couch.

Tim's eyes shot up at the sound of the door opening and he watched as Ziva came rushing into the living room, stopping when she caught sight of Tony sleeping across the couch, Delilah sprawled out on his chest.

"Hey." he greeted in a hushed tone.

"Hello." she whispered absently with her eyes still fixated on Tony.

Abby soon came up behind her, slightly out of breath. "I told you." she huffed. "See, she's fine." she assured her, pointing to Tony and Delilah.

"I missed her." Ziva pouted. "I _told_ you I was not ready to leave her yet." she made her way over to her sleeping daughter and picked her up into her embracing hold. Tony woke as the pressure lifted from his chest.

He blinked a few times, looking around the room and adjusting to the dim light. "You home?" he asked groggily.

"Obviously." Abby rolled her eyes.

"Why, what happened?" he questioned looking at the clock, he wasn't expecting them for another fifteen or ten minutes.

"We're going to have to work on this 'going out' stuff." Abby explained. "She's not very good at it yet." she leant in a whispered to Tony before taking a seat on the arm of Tim's chair.

Ziva held Delilah close to her gently bouncing on her heels in an attempt to keep Delilah sleeping. "I told you I was going to talk about Delilah." she justified.

"Please, I love hearing Delilah stories. That's not what I'm annoyed at." Abby explained.

"Well what did you do?" Tim asked Ziva who just shrugged.

"Ziva!" Abby turned to Ziva. "Three guys. _Three_!" she held up three fingers to show her point and exchanged her focus between McGee and Tony. "And those were only the ones that _approached_ her. She didn't flirt with _one _of them!"

Tony's jaw tensed as he pulled himself up on the couch and turned his head towards Ziva. "I was too distracted worrying about Delilah. And I have no time right now to be thinking of a relationship." she sat down next to Tony, closer than she needed to be.

Abby eyed Tony as his faced relaxed at the sound of Ziva's words. There was definitely something hinky going on between them.

* * *

_(Fiva Months Later; August; Delilah, Six Months Old)_

Today was finally the day.

The team was excited for it.

Ziva almost dread it.

Yes, today was the day Ziva was going back to work.

Her maternity leave was up and she was needed.

* * *

_(Ziva's Apartment)_

The alarm clock blared and Ziva groaned as she rolled over to shut it off, wanting so bad to pulverize it instead. She opened her eyes, adjusting to the light while she reached behind her and lightly smacked Tony's shoulder.

He gave her an acknowledging mumble as she got out of her side of the bed and subconsciously made her way towards Delilah's room.

She found her daughter just waking, kicking her small feet happily as her now gray eyes caught site of her mother. Ziva decided to let her stay in her crib a little while longer, it gave her time to get a few more things ready before Sarah got here.

Tony came tiredly into the kitchen, seeing a freshly showered and dressed Ziva standing over the stove.

"Morning." he said, absently placing a small kiss to the back of her head, causing a smile to slip from her lips.

"Good morning." she dumped the eggs from the pan onto the two plates set on the table.

"Excited?" he asked, grabbing the orange juice from the fridge before sitting down.

"To go back to work? I believe so. I miss interrogation." she chuckled, sitting next to Tony.

"Where's Delilah?" he questioned with a mouth full of eggs.

"In her crib, she is just waking up." she informed him. "Sarah will be here soon. You should get ready." she finished up her eggs and took Delilah's bottle out of the microwave.

Sarah was right on time, actually a little early, and eager to start. She was Ziva's fresh out of college neighbor, who was in need of a job and had prior experience babysitting. When Ziva had informed her of her pregnancy months before, Sarah was ecstatic that she was looking for a nanny.

Ziva had insisted on running through what Sarah needed to do and have her know where everything was. She had done so last night so that she and Tony could get an early start to work. So now, Sarah was all set; Delilah in her arms and the bottle on the counter, waiting to be drank.

Ziva gave Delilah a quick kiss on the forehead before grabbing her keys. "Ok, so you know where everything is?" Ziva asked hastily as Tony helped her slip her jacket on.

Sarah nodded holding back a smile as Ziva puffed her hair in the mirror. "Ziva, don't worry about us."

Ziva took a breath. "I know. I…it, is just my first day away from her and…"

"She's nervous." Tony finished with a smile, fixing her collar from behind.

Ziva ignored him and continued. "The numbers are on the fridge, try them in order. I can be here in ten minutes if you need me. And if I am not in the office, call Abby. Remember, she can go down for a nap around one-"

"Numbers on the fridge, feed, nap, make sure she doesn't buy any pay-per-view movies." he exchanged a smile with Sarah. "Ziva, she's got it." Tony assured, pulling her out of the apartment, shouting a quick thank you before shutting the door.

* * *

_(NCIS:Bullpen)_

Ziva sat at her desk, lost in a trance as she stared blankly at her computer screen tapping her fingers together. Paperwork fever was getting the best of them and Ziva wanted desperately to run home, or at least call, but Tony was watching her, making sure she stayed strong.

"I'm sorry your first day back was so boring." McGee broke the bullpen's silence.

Ziva gave him a soft smile, adding a sigh as she pulled up her email, nothing but junk mail and useless ads.

"Looks like you might get some action David." Gibbs said, turning the bullpen.

Ziva's eyes shot up at his words, watching his every move. "We have a case?" Tony asked, more for Ziva than himself.

"Dead marine, Quantico." he pulled out his SIG, the rest following his lead.

Ziva gave Tony a wicked smile as she pulled out her gun, for the first time in months, feeling an exhilarating rush go through her. She was a mother, but she was also Ziva. She needed this.

Tony and McGee exchanged a knowing look as Ziva swung her backpack over her shoulder and strode to the elevator, the mischievous smile still stained in her lips. Yea, the real Ziva was still there.

* * *

_(Later That Night)_

"You did good today." Tony cracked a smile as he sat down next to Ziva who had Delilah cradled in her arms.

Ziva looked down at her daughter, her smile was contagious and soon Ziva became sick with happiness. She took in a deep breath, along with Tony's compliment and the events of that day; a suspect chase, a faster-than-needed car ride to witness's house, successful interrogation, and the day was wrapped up with an hour session at the firing range.

"Yea, that's right Deli, your mom still has her mojo." Tony tickled Delilah's stomach.

"I still have my _what_?" Ziva chuckled, her eyes still on her daughter.

"Your mojo, your kick, your skills." he explained with a laugh.

"You doubted me?" she asked, her lips pursed, holding a smile.

"No! I was just telling Lila." he defended jokingly.

Ziva let loose her smile. Tony had many nicknames for Delilah; Ziva assumed he was trying out as many as he could come up with until on stuck.

Just then, Delilah's eyes came alive, she looked more alert than Ziva had seen her in a few days, and that's when she noticed.

"Tony." she whispered, worry dripping from her words. "Her eyes, look at them."

Tony caught a glimpse at Delilah's eyes. Not only did he notice they were wide open, but they were two different colors; one bright green, matching his, the other chocolate brown with a hint of olive green surrounding the iris. He had seen that before, but where, he couldn't remember.

"Whoa." he breathed in awe. "That's cool."

"Cool? Her eyes should not be two different colors!" Ziva breathing became fast; Tony could sense she was freaking out a bit too much, typical motherly behavior style.

"Ziva, its fine. I worked with a guy with one blue eye and one green." Tony half lied, he knew he knew someone with two different color eyes but he still couldn't put his finger on who.

"Are you sure?" she looked at him, concern covered her face.

He looked at her for a moment, her eyes filled with worry, her arms wrapped around Delilah more protectively than usual. "Yea, Ziva, don't worry." he assured her, tucking a lose strand of hair behind her ear.

Ziva let out a breath and turned back to face Delilah, studying her eyes. She soon let out a small chuckle. "You know, they actually make her look," she searched her head for the right adjective. "Unique." she had a soft yet proud smile playing on her lips.

"They do." he chuckled in agreement. "She's gunna be a heartbreaker."

"Delilah, one who weakens." she smiled.

"Yea but didn't she like betray that dude with the red hair in the bible." he questioned, looking at her, although her focus hadn't left Delilah.

Ziva let out a sigh. "Yes, but it can also mean delicate." she paused and took a breath. "And…it was my mother's name." she admitted slowly.

There was a heavy silence between them, even Delilah could sense the tension and kept her cuteness to a minimum, which was very hard. "Well, I still, that was one girl, who says she has the right to curse all the Delilahs in the world with her legacy?" he said seriously, although she could sense the lightheartedness of his words. "I love the name. Dated a girl named Delilah, didn't work out, too clingy…but she had a heart of gold." he brought a small smile to her face. "And then there's the song."

She lifted her head to look at him, her eyes smiling for her. Then, as quickly as he looked at him, her attention turned back to her daughter.

And just then, it hit him, he knew where those eyes were from…

* * *

_(Two Days Later)_

Night had fallen upon the nation's capital and the two agents were enjoying a relaxing evening. With Delilah in her crib, already asleep, and Tony and Ziva on the couch the house was quiet, except for the eleven o'clock news on low volume.

Tony had been keeping his sudden curiosity for answers to himself. And Ziva was starting to notice the rising tension between them. He had spent the last few nights on the couch, up all night thinking, and putting the pieces together. Subtle hints and the remembrance of his college donation were starting to flood his mind. And the fact that his features were starting to take shape on Delilah's face were adding to his suspicions.

But Tony pushed that to the back of his head for tonight, they had had a draining case tonight and they both just needed a relaxing night.

"Hey." Tony took her attention from her book to him. "Put the radio on." he said with a mischievous smile.

She looked at him in a 'what the hell are you up to?' look. After an enthusiastic nod from him, she took her legs off of his and waltzed over to the radio, pressing the play button. Almost immediately, the Plain White Tee's hit song came on.

_"Hey there Delilah, what's it like in New York City?"_

"What is this?" she chuckled, sitting next to him as he wrapped his arm naturally yet casually around her.

"The song, Hey There Delilah. I thought you should listen to it." he smiled, turning the TV volume down.

A few versus stuck in her head as she kept her eyes on Tony as did he to her. Her chocolate brown eyes melting into his.

_"But girl tonight you look so pretty, yes you do. Time Square can't shine as bright as you."_

Then, _she_ took a chance. Then, _he_ took a chance.

Their heads moved closer until their noses touched, their lips dangerously close.

_"Oh, it's what you do to me."_

They stayed that way for a moment until Ziva gently placed her lips on his, closing the microscopic gap that was between them.

Tony cupped her curls in his hand; bring her closer to him as their kiss deepened and allowing Ziva's arms to wrap around his neck. They shared that sweet, passionate kiss for another moment, before taking a breath. With her arms still around his neck, and with one of his hands still in her curls, the other around her waist, and their foreheads touching, they gave each other one last sly look before crushing their lips together again. Ziva's body started to make its way to the seat of the couch, bring him with her. And they laid there, enjoying each other's kisses and presence on them.

_"That by the time that we get through the world will never ever be the same, and you're to blame." _

Ziva began to play with the buttons on his shirt, contemplating to herself. She unbuttoned one, then started for the other.

Then, guilt rushed over Ziva. _Why now? Why was this coming to her now?_

She made a few awkward noises, trying to get from Tony's kiss, but temptation and pleasure were getting the best of her.

She eventually found the opportunity when he began planting sift kisses to her jaw line. "Wa- Wait, Tony." she managed to get out, not wanting him to leave her though. "To-Tony."

"Mm, yes?" he breathed, kissing her neck.

"Tony, wait." she stopped him, but he still lingered over her.

She stared at him for a moment with solemn eyes. "There is something I need to tell you." And he understood

He gently lifted himself from her, sinking into the couch. She got up off the couch, fixing her shirt, as did he. She made her way to the stand where she kept all her pictures, leaning herself against the edge of it. "Tony…" she trailed off in her own thoughts.

But he finished for her, he knew.

"She's mine." he paused; she kept her focus on the floor. "Isn't she?" Tony had already mentally prepared himself for this and had accepted that there was a strong chance he was Delilah's genetic father.

She gave him a small nod, taking in a deep breath. "When did you figure it out?" she asked absently, still avoiding eye contact.

"A few days ago. She looks too much like me." he sounded almost as if he was trying to lighten the mood.

"It is that damn green eye." she let loose a smile to herself. Finally, she looked up at him, looking into his kind eyes.

"Yea, about that…my grandma and two uncles had that, it's in the Dinozzo blood." he smiled, letting out a breath.

A pause lingered in the room and she made her way back to him, balancing herself on the arm of the couch, not letting herself to close to him.

"I had, and still have, every right to not tell you." she justified, more to herself.

"I'm not mad."

"It was an anonymous donation, you have no right to the child and the child has no right to you." she added, oblivious to his words. She looked and sounded like a failing lawyer, trying to make a case.

"Ziva, I'm not mad."

"And it is not like you are not involved-"

"Ziva!" he said a little bit louder, placing her hand over hers, a gesture which she was surprised at. "I'm not mad, you're absolutely right, about everything." he looked at her sweetly.

She nodded again, comforted by the warmth of his hand on hers. "Come on, let's go to sleep." he ignored his urge for her and got up off the couch.

With their hands intertwined, he led her into the bedroom. They slept like they usually did; Ziva on her side, Tony on his, but they were closer, almost in each other's arms. They both wanted so bad to be like they were a few minutes ago. But after that, even though the atmosphere had not changed, they just needed to sleep.

After a few moments of silence, she spoke. "You are not mad? At all?"

"How can I be mad at you? And who can resist the Dinozzo smile, I know I'd want my child to have this face." he said charmingly, placing a kiss to her temple.

She rolled her eyes at his mostly true comment. "Is this going to change anything?" she said after another moment, sadness filled her words.

"No." he said simply, and softly.

A million questions ran though his mind, but it was late, he'd save the questions for the morning, and they weren't important. He had spent every day with Delilah; she hadn't kept her from him.

But before she fell asleep, he jumped out of bed, starting Ziva. But before any questions could be asked he ran out of the room. And was back in a few minutes, his daughter in his hands.

He placed her on the bed, in the middle of him and Ziva. And there Delilah slept, in the middle of her parents, genetically and technically.

_I have a daughter_, Tony thought as he let Delilah wrap her hand around one of his fingers as he brushed her wavy hair with his free hand. Usually, whenever he saw Delilah, he always saw peace and serenity in her, but this time, he saw more, much more.

For the first time this week, Tony had closure, Tony had Ziva, Tony had Delilah. Tony had his family.


	19. Father and Mother

_(The Next Morning)_

Ziva woke to Tony's soft gaze on her. Usually, she didn't mind when he looked at her, actually she liked it, but after last night she could do without him watching her every move.

With his eyes still on her, she blinked back the light pouring in from the windows. She sat up in the bed and turned to Tony, who had let Delilah wrap her hand around his finger the whole night. His eyes were gentle and caring, not what she expected after the previous night.  
But she could see the traces of question in his eyes as well. Taking in a deep breath, she relaxed into the pillows. She got as comfortable as possible, letting the pillows take the shape of her body; she knew she was going to be there a while.

Tony followed her lead, sitting up and sinking into his pillow. He picked up Delilah as peacefully as possible and held her against his chest.

Silence lingered between them for a while. Ziva watched as he kept his focus on Delilah, staring into her green eye.

"Just one question. That's it." he said simply, unexpectedly.

She took a deep breath, ready for whatever he had.

"Why?"

Was it that simple for him? Was that all he needed? A one word question that required a monstrous explanation, and he would be content?

She took her time, choosing her words as the seconds flew by. "It was not intended, I assure you." Her eyes did not meet his but instead she seemed to be talking to herself; looking at the bed sheets that covered her.

"I had forgotten all about your…donation." she paused for a moment. "I saw a few pictures and when yours appeared…I was so caught up in the moment. The only thing I could think of was having a baby, _no matter what_." Although she could not see it, his face became more understanding.

"The more I thought about it, the more difficult the thought of carrying some stranger's baby became." she exhaled. "Maybe…I wanted to carry your baby all along." she thought out loud, immediately regretting it.

A smile threatened to slip from his lips as her face stayed confused and befuddled. "And before I could think I found myself choosing you." confusion and thought filled her words.

His eyes had hardly left hers the entire time she spoke. And after a few moments of heavy silence he, Delilah not having stirred a bit, spoke in his charming and true Dinozzo tone. "You know, if you wanted my baby so bad…you could have just asked." he chuckled, causing a smile to play at her lips. "Although, I would have preferred the natural way." he teased.

She let loose her smile. "Either way, Delilah is yours."

_Either way, you have a daughter._

_Either way, you are a father. _

They sat there for most of the morning, in bed with their daughter. Their bodies lay close, her curls falling onto his shoulder as they admired their daughter's every movement, every breath.

"I meant what I said last night." his words penetrated their silence.

Her eyes, filled with curiosity, looked into his emerald eyes. "I don't want anything to change." he said simply, truthfully.

And he was right, nothing did change. Sure, it was a little awkward for Ziva to tell the team, but she got through it. Most of them had suspected it by now anyway.

Soon, just like always, they were back. No words were needed. They were back to the norm, although they had hardly left. And their little make out session had also yet to be continued, but who knows.

* * *

_(A Few Days Later)_

Ziva sat on the floor Indian style, with Delilah facing her, in-between her legs. She had her hands in front of her face, revealing her face to her daughter every few seconds. The smile on her face grew wide as her daughter's grew every time she saw her mother's face.

And now, for about the fifteenth time that night, she separated her hands in front of her face, causing giggles to erupt from Delilah's lungs. Never, had she heard a laugh so adorable and whimsical. The laugh was innocent, high-pitched, fun; Ziva had never heard anything quite like it.

And Delilah didn't stop, no matter how hard she tried, she kept laughing and Ziva's continuous peek-a-boo's weren't helping. Soon, her laugh became too much for Ziva to handle, and with her hands covering her mouth, she burst into a fit of laughter that she couldn't control.

Tony heard the laughter from the kitchen and wandered in, letting out a chuckle at the scene laid out in front of him: Mother and daughter, both in an unstoppable fit of chuckles, laughter and giggles.

Delilah was laughing at Ziva; Ziva, at Delilah. And there was no stopping it. Tony's smile grew wider by the second. In the six years he had known Ziva, never, never, had he heard her giggle. Laugh, yes; Chuckle, sure. But giggle, never.

The two were so caught up that neither had noticed him come into the room. He sat there, leaning against the wall, watching, thinking.

Instead of stopping it, instead of joining, he let them be. Ziva continued the game, causing more giggles between them.

It was the little moments like these Ziva would cherish for a lifetime.

* * *

_(Two Months Later; September; Delilah- Eight Months)_

Delilah sat on the floor of the kitchen, playing peacefully with some blocks. She was keeping herself busy while her mother cooked.

Tony soon came in, the smell drawing him next to Ziva. "Mmm." he hummed close to her as he bent down to the pot. "Whatcha making?" he asked curiously.

"Pasta Alfredo." she smiled as she heard Delilah grunt. She looked down at Delilah, who had her hands up towards Ziva, grabbing the air. "One moment, Tateleh."

"Tony, Ahavah, can you put the rest of the groceries away?" she asked hastily as she continued mixing and pouring while Delilah kept grunting and tugging at Ziva's pants for her attention.

"Tateleh, patience." she whispered, but Delilah ignored her.

Then, that's when it happened.

_"Mom!"_

"Delilah, please!" she shot, obviously oblivious to her daughters words as she continued cooking.

Tony, who had already turned to Delilah at the sound of her first full word, was changing his focus from Ziva to Delilah, too shocked to say anything.

_"Mom!"_ she squealed again.

"Del-" Ziva's own words stopped her, she turned to Delilah, looking down at her. "Excuse me?" she asked, startled.

_"Mom!"_ she said once again, hands still in the air, grasping for her mother's hold.

Ziva drew a hand to her mouth, staring at her daughter in shock. She eyes began to glisten as her eyes became fixated on her daughter's. _"Mom!"_ she said once more, not knowing how much happiness Ziva was in right now.

She gasped once again at her the word, a single tear almost leaving her chocolate brown eye. She nodded slowly. "Yes?" she asked hoarsely, her throat becoming dry.

_"Ma! Uh!"_ Delilah continued to grasp at the air.

"Of course." Ziva immediately dropped the spoon carelessly on the counter and didn't bother to turn the stove off. Her only care right now was Delilah. She held her tight against her chest and Delilah began to calm down. "Ima is here. Shh…it is fine Deli, mommy is here." she bounced on her feet another tear leaving her as Delilah's head rested peacefully on her mother's shoulder while she absently played with her mother's curls.

Tony's smile grew wide, threatening to fall off as he watched Ziva with Delilah, bouncing and comforting her. Ziva turned to Tony, catching his eyes. "She called me mom." she whispered in disbelilef. Tony nodded proudly as he kept his eye on Ziva's expression.

And her smile was priceless.

* * *

**Translation:**

_**Tateleh: little darling**_

_**Ahavah: Love**_


	20. Baby Steps

_(Three Months Later; November; Delilah, Nine Months)_

Beside the occasional 'ma!', Delilah hadn't spoken much.

But she was getting smarter and smarter every day, she _was_ Tony and Ziva's child after all. And like Tony said, it was inevitable.

Tony and Ziva were getting closer, just like they always had since Delilah was born and Tony moved in. Tony never slept on the couch and pecks on the cheek were a regular morning routine.

They kept it out of the office, much to Gibbs liking. He didn't mind that they were getting close, actually, he preferred it. They seemed to be working better as partners and a team the closer they became.

Now, the two sat on the floor, a few feet across from each other. Delilah was standing thanks to her father holding her hands, supporting her as she happily bounced up and down to the beat of the song coming from Tony's ipod that played gently in the background.

They laughed at everything and they laughed at nothing.

It was peaceful, between the squeals and giggles coming from their daughter. They stole smiling glances at each other and were completely comfortable with the other's admiring stares.

"Kay Lila, you ready?" Tony asked enthusiastically as he spread her arms out. "You got this." He whispered into her ear as he started to unravel her hands around his finger so she could attempt to balance herself.

They had been trying this for a few minutes. Delilah usually ended up butt-first on the floor, giggling the whole time at the attention she was getting. She had attempted to take one step but, again, ended up on the floor and now, Tony had a gut feeling that this time was going to be the one.

"Come on Delilah!" Ziva cooed, as she held her hands out.

Delilah took one step, her smile growing as her other foot caught up to the other. Tony let out a chuckle as he clapped in encouragement. "That's it Lila, you got it."

She turned around to be met with his huge smile and two thumbs up. Her head turned back to her mother, who was just a few steps away from her, her encouraging hands reached out towards her.

Wobbling slightly as she tried to keep her balance, she put left foot forward and caught herself before she fell back, squealing in delight at her recovery, along with her parents. Their encouraging pleas and claps kept her going as she met that foot with the other, and did the same thing again.

By now, she was just a step or two away from her mother's arms. "Come on Delilah, come to Ima." Ziva whispered, tears threatening to leave her chocolate brown eyes. She had shed more tears since she had Delilah than she had in her whole life time; granted they were all happy tears. Tony thought it was healthy. He knew she had probably never cried in Mossad, ever. So pouring all of her happiness into tears wasn't such a bad thing and it was heartwarming to witness.

Delilah picked up her pace in those last two steps, practically running to her mother and falling dramatically into her arms. Her father's expression was priceless as he shot his hands up, showering her with praise and acting as if Ohio State had just won the Rose Bowl.

Ziva held her daughter in a tight embrace and before she knew it Tony's arms were wrapped around her as well as he hugged Delilah from behind. "Did you get it?" Ziva asked as she still held her laughing daughter.

Tony's face lit up as he crawled over to the video camera they had set up that should have gotten a perfect view of the whole event. He quickly played it back. "Every step." he assured her with a smile.

"You think you got one more in for you?" Tony asked his daughter as he held her steady by her stomach. Delilah nodded and let out an adorable giggled in response.

This time, Ziva held her and Tony had his hands out for her to fall into. Her second steps weren't as slow and struggled as the first ones. Actually, the second seemed more like an impulse. Her little feet ran to her father's arms, falling into his lap when she got to him.

Both of her parents held her again and laughed at the speed of their daughter. Tony lifted her above his head and blew on her stomach as he let her down. Her lags wrapped around the side of his waist, Ziva's arms were around his shoulders as she kissed her daughter's forehead.

Tony delivered a sloppy kiss to Delilah's cheek. Then, he turned around and for some unknown reason, just on an impulse; he met Ziva's lips, giving her a gentle, celebratory kiss.

She was surprised at first. Their lips hadn't touched for over three months. It was just a casual kiss and only lasted momentarily.

Ziva breathed a laugh when he let go, not really knowing why. She felt like a teenager, having a crush on the school jock. And he felt like just another boy at school, with a crush on the captain of the cheerleaders.

Her eyes smiled as he gave her a charming smile. He lent into her curls and whispered, "See, I told you it was inevitable."

* * *

_(A Week Later)_

Ziva was beating the eggs as fast as she could as the microwave beeped and Delilah started to whimper. She was getting hungrier and hungrier by the minute. Tony was rushing around the apartment, buckling his belt and tightening his tie as he searched for his shoes.

He had a workshop to attend in Georgia for the weekend and the alarm clock had failed to wake anyone up. "Have you seen my shoes?" he cried as he gulped some mouthwash.

"Laundry room." she yelled back, emptying the egg batter into the flying pan before hitting the stop button on the microwave. "One minute Lila." She cooed as her daughter started to moan.

Tony spit the mouthwash into the slop sink as he grabbed his shoes and hopped back to the living room while putting on his left shoe. "Keys?" he asked.

Ziva snatched them from the counter next to her and tossed them at him. She flipped over the eggs and took the bottle out of the microwave, placing it in Delilah's outward reaching hands.

Tony looked into the mirror by the door, flicking his hair so that it all stayed to one side. A honk was heard from below. He let out an annoyed moan. "Damn." he muttered. "He's early." He knew how anxious D.C cabbies were.

"Wait!" Ziva called out pouring the eggs into the nearest plate and taking Delilah out of her highchair, rushing over to the door where Tony was, her robe lifting from her body at her swiftness.

Tony placed his lips on Delilah's cheek while Ziva's lips were on the other. Confusion crossed Delilah's face as she felt her cheeks being squeezed in by her parents' lips. "Bye Lila." he placed his lips in her wavy hair. "I love you." He mumbled against her head. "Be good for Ima." He picked up up his duffel bag.

Tony let go, kissing the side of Ziva's lips. "Bye. I love you." he said quickly, casually. Not lingering on his words or her expression. As if he had said it every day.

As he opened the door, his words sunk in. She grabbed his shoulder before he was fully out the door and pulled him back in. She searched his eyes for an explanation but he looked at her confused.

Ziva nodded, accepting his words. But she felt something was missing. He hadn't said them so sappy and gooey, but lovingly and quickly. Like a husband would say to his wife of a few years. She had never heard those words being spoken to her by Tony, and thought this would be a big moment. She thought she needed a big moment, but found that she didn't want a big moment. Casual, that's how he had said it. It was no big deal. The feeling was mutual, so why not?

She swallowed and slowly brought his cheek to her lips. "I love you too." she whispered softly, causing his eyes and lips to part into a smile. He nodded, the smile still staining his face. "I know." he said sweetly. She let go of his shoulder, not having realized she was still holding him.

"Bye again." he said to both of them before closing the door and heading down the stairs. He heard another round of annoyed honks from the cabbie, but nothing right now could wipe the smile off his face.

He hadn't known what overcame him to say those three words. He actually didn't even realize he had said them until she pulled him back in.

A baby, a cuddle, a kiss, and three words…is this what people meant when they said to take baby steps in a relationship?


	21. Always In My Thoughts And In My Rambles

_(Continued…)_

Ziva closed the door slowly, Delilah still in her arms. She was still a little frazzled from the last few seconds. She leaned back on the door, sliding down slowly until she was sitting on the floor, back against the wall.

Delilah was now in the middle of her lap as she sat Indian style on the carpet. She grabbed for her mother's curls, fascinated with them, while Ziva stared into the distance, letting the whole thing sink in.

Her daughter could sense there was something strange going on with her mother. She lifted her hand up to her mother's mouth, pulling gently on her bottom lip until Ziva looked down, still a bit surprised.

"Oh," she looked at her daughter sweetly. "Sorry Lila." she breathed, taking her daughter's hands from her face. Delilah went back to playing with her mother's curls.

Ziva let out another breath. "You heard him too, yes?" she looked at Delilah, who now turned her attention back to her mother, but kept her fragile fingers intertwined in Ziva's hair. "He has never said that to me before. And nor have I to him." she mused aloud, surprise and a small chuckle filled her words.

She looked down at Delilah. "I know he says it to you _all_ the time, but me…never." Delilah looked to her mother every now and then, but was still occupied by the different shades of brown embedded into her mother's curls. "And then I said it back." she said in disbelief. "I care about him, I spend every day with him, but love?" she questioned herself. Her eyebrows furrowed as she thought about it. _She had said it, hadn't she meant it? _

"Ma!" she heard her daughter mumble as she tapped on her chin, calling for attention. Ziva looked down at her daughter. A smile stained her face as her eyes met Delilah's. She rested her forehead against Delilah's and looked deeply into her daughter's one emerald green eye and one chocolate brown eye. "I love _you_, Delilah. That is one thing I am sure of." she said kindly before gently kissing her nose and lifting her head off of Delilah's.

"But Tony…" she trailed off in thought. "Could we even be?" She thought about it. She had never given it much thought. It wasn't until now that she had noticed how close they had become since Delilah was born. "Yes, we have a child together, but we did not _make_ you together."

Ziva let out a sigh. "I suppose I love him, but to be _romantically_ involved?" she questioned to herself.

She watched her daughter, how she was intrigued with only her mother's waves, she didn't have a care in the world right now. "You are lucky Delilah." she stated, pushing one of her daughter's curls behind her ears. "You have nothing to worry about."

Delilah looked at her mother and giggled, who in turn let out a chuckle. "You are so beautiful Delilah." she whispered. "You have changed me so much." she said after another minute. "And you are only nine months old." Delilah smiled at her, although she was practically oblivious to her mother's words. "If it was not for you, Tony and I…well Tony and I would not be this close." she began to ramble. "I am not sure what me and Tony would have been." her eyes, which had wandered off of Delilah's momentarily, came back to her daughter. "See, I cannot even imagine my life without you in it anymore." she said sweetly. Delilah smiled, causing her mother to smile even wider. "What do you think Lila? Could your father and I be together? Would you like that?" she looked at her questioningly.

Ziva's smile turned into a chuckle as she saw her daughter nod her head.

* * *

_(Later than Day; Gibbs' Basement)_

Ziva placed Delilah on the floor when she stepped off the last step to his basement. She stood behind Delilah, holding her hands up for balance as the baby wobbled towards Gibbs.

At the sound of their steps, Gibbs turned from the frame of his boat and smiled at the sight of Delilah. He crouched down, bouncing on his knees with open arms.

"Hey sniper." he greeted her as she Ziva let her take the last step by herself into Gibbs' arms. She giggled as he picked her up and kissed her cheek.

Placing her in her favorite spot underneath the wooden beams, he turned to Ziva. She watched her daughter raise her hands up to touch the beams that were close to her and run her fingers over the smooth wood underneath her. Then Ziva eyes went back to Gibbs, responding to his questioning look with innocence. "She misses you." she answered simply as he nodded, turning back to Delilah who seemed to be inspecting the ocean colored working glove she had found. "Blu." she gurgled at Gibbs, who let a smile slip from his lips.

"Smart kid." he turned to Ziva who nodded proudly.

"Blu." she declared once more, handing the glove to her mother. Ziva took it with a smile. "That is right Delilah, the glove is blue." she chuckled before turning back to Gibbs, who still had traces of smile on his lips.

"Well she is surrounded by smart people." Ziva shared a smile with Gibbs.

A sudden silence lingered in the basement as they both watched Delilah go through a pile of rags, looking for something interesting. "Do you think Tony will be a good father?" she blurted, almost regretting she asked.

He looked at her questioningly, thinking about the answer while searching for a reason why she would ask. "Has he not been?" he finale asked.

Ziva shook her head in assurance. "No, he has been wonderful. It is just…well I've heard the toddler years are difficult."

Gibbs chuckled at a memory long gone. "They are." he said absently.

"I do not even want to think about the teenage years." she smiled, thinking to herself. But when she caught Gibbs stoic look to Delilah, she regretted mentioning anything above the age of eight.

Ziva quickly picked up where she left off. "I just feel as if I have put it on his too quickly. I did not ask him to have a child." she paused. "But I also did not ask him to be part of Delilah's life. He just…did."

"Paternal instinct." Gibbs answered the unasked question.

She looked up at him softly. "So we will be good parents? Tony will be a good father?" Ziva did not realize how eager she sounded.

"Rule 15."

Ziva chuckled, looking to her daughter. "We always do." she responded quietly. "So you think he will be a good father?" she questioned again.

"He _is_ a good father." he stated confidentially, watching his teammates' daughter carefully. When he looked at Delilah and how much she was learning every day, how much she had grown, he had no doubt in his mind that Tony was doing something right.

Gibbs sat on the frame of his boat, next to Delilah as they played a quick game of peek-a-boo behind the beams. She burst into a fit of giggles every time she saw his face appear from one side of the beam in front of her.

"I bet you were a good father." Ziva whispered to herself. Gibbs and Delilah continued their game, she never knew if he heard her or not, but she felt it needed to be said.

Soon, their game grew old and they stopped. Ziva could sense Delilah growing restless. Gibbs hadn't expected their visit and he didn't have many child-friendly things in his basement. But then an idea crossed his mind. He turned around and opened up the Strawberry Shortcake lunchbox he kept sitting on the desk. He slowly took out the small doll in the corner, staring momentarily at the smiling picture of Kelly and Maddie that the doll laid upon.

He walked toward Delilah silently. Ziva saw what was in her hand; she felt a lump in her throat growing. Gibbs smiled at Delilah as he came closer, this felt right. He handed it to her with a small smile. She took it gently. Somehow, she knew that this was special.

Delilah lightly brushed back the hair on the small doll and traced her fingers across its painted face.

"Gibbs…" Ziva said uneasily.

He shook his head, watching Delilah hold the doll, fascinated with it. "She can keep it." he smiled.


	22. Pictures of Me, Pictures of You

_(The Next Day)_

Ziva and Delilah sat comfortably on the living room carpet in the middle of the pool of hundreds of photos that surrounded them. Ziva had just bought several photo albums and, having the day off, decided it would be a good day to organize all of them. Tony was due back tomorrow and she wanted this to be finished before he came.

Looking around the monsoon of photos, she let out an exasperated sigh. She hadn't realized how many she had taken. There must have been a solid two hundred spread out on the floor.

There were a good few dozen or so from Delilah's birth, most of those were of her and Delilah in the hospital bed. Then there were a few from when they first brought Delilah home, and even more the night the team came over for dinner the following week. It seemed that as they days went by, they took more and more photos, more and more paused memories.

Ziva's hand was placed gently over her mouth as she looked around, clearly remembering every moment every picture was taken. Delilah sat in the middle of her lap as she sat Indian style in the middle of the mess. They were both still in their pajamas and looked like they had just rolled out of bed. Delilah was keeping busy with her, or Kelly's, Strawberry Shortcake doll as her mother tried to find a way of organizing everything.

In the mess of pictures from Delilah's first haircut, something caught her eyes.

It was a picture of Tony, just Tony. It was the only picture that didn't have Delilah in it. She remembered taking it, by accident actually. The camera didn't seem to be working and while in the mess of one former cop and one former assassin trying to fix it simultaneously, both thinking that they, themselves, were right, the flash went off. It wasn't a bad picture of him, like most accidental photos were. It was actually a really nice photo.

She held it up in front of her, contemplating if she should keep it or not. She did have an extra frame she could sneak it in and put it somewhere on Delilah's dresser. But before she could process another thought, his mouth was covered with a tiny little finger.

Delilah's finger poked the picture a few times. Ziva squeezed her stomach lovingly as she kept pointing at the picture. "That is Tony." she said, giving the picture to Delilah. The nine month old sat there, inspecting the picture like she did with many new things her mother gave her. "He is your father." Ziva explained as Delilah let out a giggle when she caught her father's smile gleaming at the lens.

"Da!" Delilah squealed with laughter as she held the picture.

Ziva furrowed her eyebrows, the word catching her attention. "Da!" she repeated, pointing to the picture and turning to her mother.

Ziva let out a smile, complete with a surprised chuckle. "Y-yes Lila, that is dad." she beamed, still a bit befuddled (a/n: I couldn't resist that word:D)

Delilah kept her eye on her mother, showing off her "skills". Ziva's smile couldn't be erased as her daughter continued to pick through the pictures, finding the ones with of Tony and herself. She would find one and hand it to her mother, find one, hand it to her mother. She was completely confident when she gave her the pictures; she knew that was Tony, her father.

Ziva mouth formed a perfect "o" when Delilah handed her the last of them. Because it wasn't just a picture of Tony; it was of _her_ and Tony.

They were in the hospital, the night Delilah was born. Tony was next to her in the bed, arm around her and his shoulder supporting her head. The two were fast asleep, along with Delilah, who could be seen in the corner of the picture, her pink hat peeked through the top of the crib.

She looked completely comfortable in his arms, and he looked just fine with his head resting on hers. She hadn't known how peaceful they looked together, just them two, no tension, no one else.

But who took the picture was a mystery. It was taken after visiting hours and Ziva knew her and Tony didn't show much affection towards each other around people. And the team was gone by the time they had fallen asleep.

She smiled at the picture and by the way Delilah was looking at it before she gave it to her mother, she could tell her daughter liked it too.

She reached for a black frame, one that would match the frames in Delilah's room and smiled contentedly when the photo was in its proper place.

And somewhere a beaming Abby was remembering the night nine long months ago she convinced the nurse to let her fetch her forgotten purse.


	23. Nothing? Dinner Pt 1

**Ok, wow. I am completely flabbergasted, completely. I thought we'd hit 400 **_**after**_** chapter 23. Wow, did you guys prove me wrong! I love you all so much. 22 chapters and 414 reviews? Is this real life? Well, I did just have my brother pinch me and I'm still here so yea…haha, I guess it is. Wow, just…wow.**

**So, in honor of how awesome you all are, I'm giving you a treat. Here's that Tiva Dinner Date Night you all wanted or, ****TDDN****. Yea, it's that amazing that it has an acronym.**

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* * *

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_(The Next Day)_

"So…?" Abby instigated, balancing on a chair to tape the welcome home banner they had made on both side of the doorway.

Ziva looked up at her curiously and innocently as she handed her another piece of tape. She glanced back at Delilah, who sat in the middle of the living room eating some Cheerios as she watched her mother and Abby attempt to hang up the homemade banner for her father's return.

Abby looked back down at Ziva, her eyes widening as they asked her to answer her unasked question. "What?" Ziva asked oblivious to her question.

"You and Tony. What's up with you two?" Abby asked, hiding a devious smile as she continued taping.

Ziva furrowed her eyebrows in slight confusion. "Nothing." She caught the eye-roll Abby gave off. "What? I am not leading." she seemed to be pleading for an answer as she handed her another piece of tape.

"I think you mean following and you don't see it?" Abby searched Ziva's eyes for some sign of knowing. Finally, she let out an exasperated sigh. "You. And Tony. Anything…happening?" Abby implied slyly, jumping down from the chair and coming to eye level with Ziva who narrowed her eyes on the goth.

"Tony and I?" Ziva scoffed. "Nothing. Nothing is '_happening'_" Ziva chuckled in disbelief. "We are just two adults, raising our child." she slipped casually.

"And living in the same apartment, driving to work together, eating together," her eyes wandered to the couch. "And by the lack of pillows and blankets around the couch, _sleeping_ together?" Abby questioned deviously.

Ziva slowly opened her mouth in shock, letting out a chuckle as she did. She shook her head quickly, unable to erase the smile of disbelief off of her lips. Abby stood there, the sly smile far from gone, waiting for a straight answer as she watched Ziva go around the room picking up random markers and multicolored pieces of construction paper. "No answer?" Abby's lips curled mischievously.

Ziva let out another sigh, dragging her eyes to Abby. "I have never had sex with Tony." she assured her.

"That's not what I asked." Abby smiled victoriously. Ziva's eyes narrowed on hers as she pursed her lips together until she gave in. "We sleep in the same bed." Abby let out an I-knew-it laugh. "But," Ziva quickly interjected. "We do not engage in any other _activities_ aside from sleeping." she finished quickly.

Abby shook her head in amusement. "I sense there are a few kisses here and there." she lifted a brow. Her question was answered by Delilah's shrill giggle filling the room. Abby's eyes darted to her niece as the smile plastered to her face grew. "Exposing children to PDA?" Abby shamed her teasingly.

"Friendly pecks on the cheek are nothing." Ziva blew it off as she picked up Delilah and carried her to the sink.

"But they mean everything." Abby smiled, following her into the kitchen. She could sense Ziva quickly confused expression although she was not looking at her. "It shows you two are comfortable with each other." she finished, leaning against the counter as Ziva wiped Delilah's mouth and hands.

"Well I would hope I am comfortable with someone I am raising a child with, let alone living with." she justified.

Abby continued to follow Ziva, talking a mile a minute as they went back into the living room. "Ziva, there is nothing wrong with you and Tony being together. Actually I wou-"

"We are not _together_." Ziva interrupted hastily as she popped Delilah's Sesame Street DVD into the player.

"How can you honestly say that you have been living, working, eating, sleeping, and raising a child with Tony and you have not felt anything for him?" Abby's voice grew slightly louder. Ziva quickly turned around to meet her friend's eyes. Staring at her for a moment, she finally closed her eyes and let out a breath. "He _did_…say something, the other day." she admitted softly, walking over to the couch.

Abby followed her, sinking into the leather couch. "Something?" she questioned, Ziva's eyes on Delilah. Ziva's eyes flickered to Abby's. "He…he told me he loved me." she said barely audible.

Abby's eyes widened at her words; and at the softness of her tone. It was so timid and innocent. "Tony…told…you…he…" she processed it slowly and questioningly.

Ziva finished her sentence with a solemn nod. "And I…may have said it back." she slipped subtly and softly.

Abby's eyes widened once more, but this time Ziva could find traces of happiness speckled on her lips. "So it was mutual?" she sounded excited.

Ziva nodded again. "But it was not a heart pouring, sappy 'I love you'. He…he just said it, as if he said it every day." she rambled to herself in disbelief.

"Well how many times has he said it after that?" she asked curiously.

"Never. Just that once, right before he left for Georgia." Ziva explained.

Abby stared at her for a second in contemplation. "You guys have a _lot_ to work out."

Ziva's eyebrows furrowed in slight confusion. "No we do not." she said in disbelief, almost laughing.

She heard the distinct sound of a car screech up to the apartment. Abby turned around and leaned against the window sill just in time to see Tony slam the trunk of the taxi and wave a thank you to the driver before heading up the stairs. Pushing herself off the window sill she turned to Ziva. "You and Tony. Dinner tomorrow. McGee and I will be here at 7:30. I will not take no for an answer." she said bluntly.

Before Ziva could object, the door handle started to turn. _That was fast. _A smiling Tony burst through the door as Abby and Ziva got up off the couch. "Oh, Lucy! I'm hooome!" he sang, much to Delilah's delight.

She crawled over to his leg before he swooped her up in his arms, playfully tossing her up in the air as she helplessly giggled in surprise. Abby stole a glance towards Ziva, whose smile was indescribable.

With Delilah on his hip, his eyes found the banner as he walked over to Ziva. "Wow." he said impressed, his 1000 watt smile hadn't erased from his lips. "Lila you make this all by yourself?" he looked at her, teasingly serious. She placed her hands over his mouth and turned his head towards Ziva and Abby.

"We missed you!" Abby beamed, engulfing him and Delilah in a hug. After playfully inspecting him for any facial injuries or changes, Tony looked charmingly as Ziva, who had a coy smile tugging at her lips. "Does this 'we' include my ninja?" he asked wandering over to her with a tempting smile.

She chuckled slyly. "It was…_different_ without you."

As he slowly moved towards her, he quickly became aware of Abby's presence. Ziva's slight cough helped too. Upon noticing she was being a slight cockblocker, she covered her eyes with her hands. "Go ahead, I won't look." she smiled.

Tony let a smile slip slowly from his lips as he placed an ever so gentle kiss on Ziva's forehead, mumbling an 'I miss you' against her forehead as she tried not to blush.

_Never said anything about peeking_, Abby thought to herself as she looked through the cracks of her fingers.

* * *

_(The Next Night)_

"And I told her, we do not need a night out. There is nothing to 'talk about'." Ziva complained from behind the bathroom door.

Tony, who was in the bedroom, buttoning his dress shirt, had been agreeing with her for everything. He also found this next to pointless, but was not going to give up the chance for a free night out. "Look, Ziva, we go to a movie, no need for talking, come back, act all lovey dovey and say all our problems are solved, and we'll have them off our backs before midnight."

Ziva let out an unheard sigh over the rushing water coming out of the sink. She inspected herself once more in the mirror, before feeling content enough to say she was officially ready. "Wow." Tony smiled as Ziva came out of the bathroom, mentally asking for an inspection. "You look…amazing."

She declined a blush as she looked at herself in the full mirror. Her dark jeans fit perfectly and her red tank top popped against her dark skin. With a quick ruffle of her hair, she met Abby and Tim in the living room.

Abby sat Indian style on the couch, Delilah in her lap, while McGee flipped through the channels, trying to find a children's program. Ziva shot Abby an exasperated look. "Ziva. Go! Talk, have fun, be merry, and prosper!" she teased as Ziva gave her a strange look.

"Last time I left Lila-"

"She was two months old." Abby finished. "You can do this." she with enough confidence Michael Phelps's coach probably gives him.

A few more sighs, goodbyes, and shoves out the door later, Tony and Ziva were on the road weaving through the streetlight lit metropolitan streets. "So, dinner or a movie?" Tony asked casually.

"I thought we agreed on a movie?" Ziva looked at him questioningly.

Tony shrugged. "Well I have a coupon to Alfonso's and it's a bit closer…" He was good at not sounding too eager.

Ziva raised a brow. "Do you _want _to talk?" she questioned gently.

He was quite for a moment. Swallowing hard he talked slowly. "It's just…I wanna know my place in Lila's life." he breathed. "And…your life." he added after another moment.

Her eyes flickered to him at his last sentence. He could feel her surprised stare on him without taking his eyes off the road. Her eyes wandered back to the floor and she nodded slowly. After a few seconds she placed her hand gently on his shoulder, rubbing his collar affectionately. "Then Alfonso's it is." she smiled.

* * *

_(At The Restaurant)_

Ziva had to admit, Tony was a complete gentleman.

Opening the car door for her, holding her hand and the door open, and pulling her chair out were just a few of the things she was surprised at before the main course came.

She picked at her salad while he cut into his steak and memories of their fist undercover assignment flooded her mind. A comfortable silence lingered between the two for a few minutes and Ziva could sense the glances he was stealing every now and then.

"I think we have a very special child." Ziva smiled at Tony who chuckled at her random comment. "She can recognize people in pictures, and she is only nine months old." she informed him.

Tony looked at her a little confused. "Does this have anything to do with the half a dozen albums on the dresser?" he asked lightly.

"I found a picture of you. It must have been taken by mistake…she knew it was you." she exchanged a smile with him.

"What do you mean?"

A smile tugged hard at Ziva's lips. "She pointed to it and said 'dad'."

Tony coughed at his steak and almost dropped him fork, a little overdramatic to Ziva. "Sh-she…she said 'dad'?" he stuttered.

Ziva nodded, her smile staining her face. "I am sure she will say it again, very soon, but…I thought you should know."

He let out an absent chuckle as he imagined his daughter calling him 'dad', or anyone calling him 'dad' for that matter. "Wow."

"And then she proceeded to pick out every picture with you in it." she laughed, causing him to let out a hearty chuckle.

They shared a few absent chuckles in otherwise complete silence for a few moments. "We're not going to turn into those parents that can't hold a conversation without talking about our kids are we?" he teased.

And yes, she noticed he said _kids_; with an _s_.

She let a chuckle slip through her lips. "I got you something." he said suddenly.

Ziva looked at him lightly and a little surprised. He pulled out a medium sized velvet box from his inside jacket pocket and handed it to her. She let out a low gasp, thanking him with her smiling eyes. She slowly opened the blue jewelry box to reveal a gold chain bracelet, with deep purple amethysts embedded around the outside. "Oh…Tony. It's beautiful." she gasped.

"Amethyst." he pointed out as he watched the stones sparkle in the light. "Lila's birthstone." He found her smiled to be contagious as he let his own trademark smile slip from his mouth.

He gently took it out of her hand and linked it around her slender wrist. "I thought the gold would match your necklace." he said as his eyes wandered to the Star of David hanging from her neck.

She turned her wrist around, admiring the way the light caught each facet of the stones with every move. Her gentle eyes met his as he smiled sweetly. "Toda, Ahavah." she whispered, cupping his cheek in her hand. She rubbed his cheek sweetly with her thumb.

Before she could take her hand from his cheek, she realized the space between them was closing and without another thought running through her mind she found his lips wrapped gently around hers. Her fingers intertwined with his a moment before he let go. Their noses were still brushing against each other, lingering there for a moment. She could feel his warm breath on her cheek and the taste of vanilla lip-gloss was still fresh on his lips.

"Prego, _Amore_."

* * *

**Translation:**

**Toda Ahavah- Thank you love (Hebrew)**

**Prego Amore- You're welcome love (Italian)**

**Thanks to DarkAngelWings159, I put a picture of Ziva's bracelet on my profile, go check it out:D**

**Unbetaed, I'm in a rush. I'll fix it tonight.**

**Don't worry, there's more to come out of their dinner date:D Part two will be up by the end of the week. Hopefully sooner!**

**Oh! and McAbby fans will be very happy with the next chapter, so will Tivers!**

**Review! Favorite lines/parts will be appreciated! **


	24. Us Dinner Pt 2

**No, you are not imagining, and yes, I am actually updating. This time, you can blame the damn computer virus that decided to eat away at my computer and you can blame staten island for making me move here. **

**So now, here I am, at my aunt's house on fourth of july, freaking out as my cousin is swinging my new cat Apollo around. But I may have enough time to write out this next chapter…me hopes so. **

**And since I id post this, I guess I did finish it! Yay!

* * *

**

Ziva pulled slowly pulled her lips from Tony's, blushing slightly as he kept his eyes on her. She hadn't noticed until now that his hand was wrapped around her wrist, his thumb brushing her knuckles affectionately.

He breathed a laugh, causing her lips to curl in question. Her eyebrow rose as she silently awaited an explanation.

And with a smile tugging softly at his lips he answered her, although he thought she had already caught on. "This just reminds me of-" but his words were caught in a chuckle.

She laughed slightly with him, but was oblivious as to what he was trying to get at. "What? A movie?" she questioned with a chuckle of her own.

"No, no." he looked up at her, hi hand squeezing her wrist slightly "Remember when we were talking, outside the hotel, when I first met you?" he asked in short bursts, hoping any one of them would jog her memory.

Realization filled her eyes and a smile lit up her face. "When you thought I was trying to poison you? With my coffee." her words were filled with laughter.

"Well I couldn't trust you then." he smiled lightly. "But now I can." Ziva almost shivered at the softness of his breath. She smiled back at him, nodding as they both went back to their meals.

"It's been a long six years." she said after a moment.

He chuckled in agreement. "Yea. I can honestly say I never thought we'd be here." A small silence lingered between the two.

_Where was here? _

They finished their meal with small talk, a few laughs and chuckled thrown in for good measure. Some stories of Delilah were shared and more laughs and miles came with tales of their daughter. When dessert was placed on the table, Tony and Ziva both took turns feeding each other whatever was on their plate. After Tony licked a spoonful of vanilla ice cream off of Ziva's spoon as she held it up for her, Ziva spoke.

"You wanted to talk about your place in Delilah's life." she instigated as he swallowed.

"Well I guess that's all up to you"

Ziva looked at him with slight confusion but nodded in agreement. "I do not believe there is much to talk about. You are her father and have acted like it since she was born. If you wish to continue-"

"Of course I do." he smiled in assurance.

"Then there is nothing to discuss." she finished.

"And _us_?" he asked. She furrowed her eyebrows, intrigued as to why he was so quick to ask.

"Do you want to see other people?" she asked, her insides pleading for a specific answer, the specific answer, the two letter specific answer.

"Do you think we should?" Damn, he got out of this one.

"Whatever happens, we will always be a family."

"You didn't answer the question." he said slyly.

"Neither did you." she answered, a mischievous smile crawling over her lips.

She thought for a moment as she continued to stare into Tony's emerald green eyes and his melted into her own chocolate browns. Finally, a thought popped into her head and she slowly back her face away from him and continued to twirl her spoon around her ice cream bowl. "We are already a family." she said simply. "Would _us_ be such a bad thing?"

"I don't think so. And I'm open to doing new things." he smiled as he also began to pick at his chocolate cake.

"Trying." she corrected slyly.

He smiled back at her before popping the last hunk of cake in his mouth. "So it is settled. We will raise Delilah as…us" she resisted the urge to say couple, but even for her it was a bit too soon.

"To us." he raised his champagne glass.

She did the same, an exact copy of his smile made its way to her lips. They clicked there glasses together, smiling at each other as they took a small sip. Ziva moved her face closer to Tony, planting a small yet firm kiss on his chocolate tasting lips. "Mmm." she hummed in delight as the taste of Tony and coco danced on her taste buds.

And love never tasted so sweet.

* * *

**Cute right? And short. Cause I don't have much time. But the dinner is pretty much over and next chapter will be some good old McAbby. **

**I'm really hoping I can get the next chapter out soon, truly. I'm going crazy without my computer. **

**So please, reviews would make my days. **

**Favorite line would be greatly appreciated.**

**Pwease?**


	25. The Weight of Love

"Are you sure she's breathing?" Abby whispered frantically.

Tim held his own breath for a moment before watching Delilah's back rise and fall. He let out a small sigh of relief and turned to Abby. "Abs, she's fine."

"Sorry." she squeaked. "Just making sure." She continued to watch Delilah for another moment. "I thought it would take longer to get her to sleep."

"Yea, me too. I mean with Tony as a father," he got a small smile to crack from her lips. "You'd think it'd take forever."

Abby let out a breath and turned around, looping her arm through McGee's and bringing him into the living room. They both took in the mess of toys, bottles, blankets, and pacifiers that were spread about the apartment. McGee let out an exasperated sigh. "We better get started." he breathed, bending down to pick up a stuffed fox.

With a sigh, Abby began to pick up all objects on her way to the kitchen. "Look at all this stuff." she complained as she picked up four pacifiers in a row. "You'd think at least three kids lived here." she had a small chuckle embedded in her voice.

"Maybe one day." Tim thought out loud.

Abby shot him a questioning look. Although he didn't catch it until he came up from underneath the couch. "What?" he asked, wondering why she was so obvious to his thought. "You don't think Delilah's going to be their last do you?"

She cocked her head to the side in thought. "I guess not." she chuckled at a lost thought. "I never really thought they we're gunna have a first."

They continued to clean up the apartment until the only thing left was a small baby doll in front of the TV. Abby picked it up slowly, as if it were going to break at the slightest jerk. She brushed the doll's hair behind it's ears, smiling at a long gone memory from her childhood. "I used to have a doll like this." she stated, catching McGee's attention.

She sat down on the couch; Abby still admiring the doll while Tim admired the organization of the apartment. "When I was eight, the only thing I wanted was a baby." McGee's eyes moved to watch her as she continued to stroke she doll's hair and fix it's sleeves.

"Are you thinking about it now?" he asked softly.

She let out a sigh, but her eyes didn't leave the dolls. "After seeing Delilah and how happy she makes Ziva." she paused for a moment taking a deep breath. "Kids would be nice."

Abby finally took her eyes from the doll and got up to toss it in the toy box in the fair end of the living room. "You?" she slipped casually.

"I'd like to have kids one day." his smile caught hers as she turned around at crashed onto the couch, handing him the remote before leaning her head on his shoulder.

"But for now I guess we're just Aunt Abby and Uncle Tim." she said merrily, but he could sense a hint of something else- remorse maybe- in her tone.

* * *

Only a few more minutes had passed when Ziva and Tony entered the apartment, hand in hand- a happy surprise for Abby and McGee.

Abby bounced off the couch to greet them. "How was dinner?" she sang.

"Fine Abby." Ziva smiled as she let go of Tony and let her eyes search the living room for her daughter. "She's sleeping." McGee answered her unasked question. She shot a thankful smile towards him before checking on Delilah.

Tony's eyes stayed on Ziva until she disappeared into the bedroom, his eyes made him seem to be on another planet. When he came back to reality he was greeted with Abby's smiling eyes. They were filled with happiness as she watched him watch Ziva. Her mouth was pursed tight, holding back a smile but the tips of her lips cured upwards. "So…?"

A tight smiled stained his face as he narrowed his eye on her. He shook his head slowly as her eyes pleaded for an answer. But their moment was interrupted by Ziva emerging from the bedroom. "Thank you, both of you." she said towards McGee and Abby.

"I hope she was not any trouble."

"Ziva are you kidding? She was excellent. I don't think I've ever seen a more well behaved baby." Abby beamed. "We even doubted Tony's paternity." she joked.

Abby turned back to the couch and helped Tim up before walking towards the door. "Tomorrow?" she whispered.

"Tomorrow."

"Everything?"

"Everything."

"Including tonight?" she added at the last second, prompting a shocked look from Ziva.

Ziva shook her head, chuckling lightly before opening the door for both of them. "Thank you."

"Don't be too loud." Abby said quickly before darting out the door. Tim was left to awkwardly stare at the two shocked agents before catching up with Abby.

"You think they're…together?" McGee asked as they waited for the elevator.

"Nope." she said simply as the elevator doors opened. "I know."

* * *

Ziva closed the door slowly before turning around to meet Tony's charming smile. She took his hand softy and lead him to their bedroom. The tension between them grew as they silently changed and washed up, stealing glances towards each other and softy brushing up against the other.

Tony hopped into bed, eagerly waiting for Ziva. When she did come out of the bathroom and sat on the bed, she adjusted herself under the covers and placed a small kiss to his temple, like she did every night as a silent thank you, and placed her head on her pillow, facing him.

"That's it? No s-"

"No, not tonight." she said simply. "Just sleep."

"But this is our first night together. We always sleep." he whined.

A chuckle emerged from her lips. "I can sleep closer to you." she said snuggling up against him.

"Or on top of me." he smirked, pulling her up on his chest.

She let out a hearty laugh as she kissed him softly, intertwining their legs and snuggling her head into the crook of his neck.

"I love you." she said through a dying chuckle.

He looked into her eyes softly. "I love you too." She wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed the bottom of his jaw.

He would have taken the 120 lbs of Ziva instead of nothing any night.


	26. Author's Note

**Author's Note 2:**

It is done.

Finally. I know.

Not a lot has changed. I thought there'd be more. It's really just the beginning. I thought it'd be crazy, but I was just a simple nose job.

Reviews are not necessary but they are greatly appreciated.

I can't give you a new chapter just yet though but it's coming.

But I need your help.

Halloween's coming up in this AU and I wanna know what you think Delilah should be for her first Halloween.

So tell me what she should be. I'm thinking late Saturday for the next chapter. I'm on vacation and have a limited amount of computer time. How I got this done, I really don't know.

Thanks for putting up with me, loves.

-n.c.i.s


	27. Feliz Navidad, Amor Mío

**Okay. So most of the editing is done.**

**When my Word decides to be nice, I'll go back and do all the grammatical stuff. But the big thing you need to worry about is the timeline. Its December now and I know, I know, I skipped Halloween, but she was only like 8 months old so she can't go trick or treating or anything. But when it comes around next year, it'll be a big deal, I promise. And sorry for making all of you submit costumes, but I'll use them for next year. But its Christmas time and she's 10 months old and last chapter was early November and this is late December so almost a 2 month jump.**

**Okay, read along…**

**This Chapter is dedicated to xXCarrinaXx cause her Lady Gaga stuff amazed me:D**

* * *

_(Christmas Day; Apartment; Delilah-10 months)_

There had never been a more perfect white Christmas in Washington.

A sheet of snow lay perfectly over the historic monuments and modern museums. Early commuters had somehow found a way to work without disrupting the blanket of snow that covered the streets too much. And it just felt different somehow; peaceful and serene.

Meanwhile in Tony and Ziva's apartment, the two, fresh parents lay in the bed they shared for the last 8 months. The only thing covering their naked and entangled bodies was a burgundy comforter she had bought long ago.

They had agreed on a strict no present exchange policy, but last night was the best present either of them had gotten since Delilah.

Ziva blinked open her eyes and immediately felt something blocking them from seeing. She moved her hand upwards, brushing Tony's bare chest until she reached his neck. When she could feel his earlobe between her thumb and index finger, she tugged at it lightly and lifted her head from the crook of his neck. Her eyes were met with his, as they were just starting to open and adjust to the light pouring in through the window.

"Merry Christmas." He said tiredly, kissing her forehead and feeling her eyelashes flutter softly on his jaw line.

"Merry Christmas." She repeated in a whisper, lost in his emerald green eyes for a moment.

"Last night was lovely." He pushed a few stray curls behind her ears and her head fell into his cupped hand, taking in the warmth.

"_Lovely_?" she chuckled.

"Are you making fun of my use of adjectives?" he questioned teasingly, quirking an eyebrow for dramatic effect.

"Of course not by little hairy butt." She placed a strong kiss on his shoulder blade. She glanced over at the clock. "Oh!" she lifted herself up. "Abby said she was going to be here early." She began to unknot her legs from Tony when she felt his hand around her arm, gently pulling her back.

She met his kind gaze. He watched her for a moment, taking in her beauty while her expression turned slightly confused. _God, she was adorable._

"Yes?" she asked, searching his eyes.

"Nothing." He shrugged. "You're just so beautiful." He smiled.

She bit her lip, curbing a smile before running a hand quickly through his hair. "Stop it." she commanded, getting up swiftly, wrapping a bed sheet around her as she entered the bathroom.

"I mean it." He called out charmingly and got a playful 'I know' in response as he reached for a pair of pants that had been discarded on the floor on the side of their bed.

When Ziva reentered the bedroom, fully clothed in her silk red pajamas, a now fully clothed Tony was in bed, eyes closed and head sunk deep into the pillow.

She decided to let him sleep for another few minutes as she dressed Delilah, whose soft whimper was now audible through the monitor in their room. Reaching her daughter's nursery, she found Lila sitting in the middle of her crib, hands grabbing at the bars of the handmade wooden masterpiece. "Feliz Navidad amor mío." She sang as she lifted up Delilah and embraced her in her arms. "Merry Christmas, my love." She repeated as Lila wrapped her legs around her mother's waist.

"Everyone is coming over soon. Auntie Abby, McGee, Gibbs, Ducky. And they are going to shower you with presents. And you will not even process what is going on." She continued to ramble as she changed her daughter's diaper. "But that is okay, because you are adorable and we love you to death." She placed a kiss to her forehead as she finished up.

"Now let's go see daddy." She said once Delilah was in her special Christmas dress Abby had bought for her a few days ago.

Ziva placed Delilah on Tony's chest as Tony pretended to still be asleep. "Da!" she squealed, patting his face.

He woke up abruptly, eyes wide and his thousand watt smile staining his face, putting Delilah into a fit of giggles and earning a chuckle from Ziva. "Morning SweetPea." He gave her a loud kiss on the cheek. "Merry Christmas."

Just then, the doorbell rang and they could hear Abby's musical voice calling them to open the door that apparently shouldn't be locked on Christmas morning.

Ziva picked up Delilah and settled her on her hip, rushing to the door while Tony trudged to the bathroom to tame his hair. "Merry Christmas!" Abby exclaimed, wrapping her arms around both Ziva and Delilah.

Wearing a green long-sleeve sweater with a red and green plaid miniskirt and her signature platform boots with red laces, she bounced into the living room, dragging two black garbage bags filled with holiday wrapped boxes with her. "Please tell me those are not _all_ for Lila?" Ziva said exasperated, putting her daughter down. Delilah crawled over to the black bags and began tugging at the material.

"No!" Abby defended. "Some are for you, and Tony…and a few for McGee, Gibbs, and Ducky. But as Lila's unofficial fairy godmother, it's my duty to shower her with presents, and during Christmas of all times…it'd be a crime if I _didn't_ spoil her." Abby explained as if it was simple math.

Ziva let out a breath, looking back towards Delilah who had now tugged on the bag so much, it had spilled out in front of her, revealing a good three dozen or so neatly wrapped boxes of presents.

This was going to be a _long_ Christmas_._

* * *

**Its late, I wanna go to bed, but I also wanna post this for you. **

**Do not fret, there is another part to this Christmas, it is Delilah's first.**

**Favorite line and such would be absolutely amazing and I am so glad to be back from story construction! I look forward to more frequent updates:D**


	28. Mistletoe

**So I've got the house to myself:D and yet instead of dancing around naked eating sleeves of Oreos, I'm typing this chapter…and watching That 70s Show…but that's not the point.**

**Anyways, here ya go.**

* * *

_(Christmas Night)_

There was something different about this Christmas. A good different.

Maybe it was because it was the first Christmas the team and truly spent with each other.

Maybe it was the home cooked dinner they had all consumed as if they were going off to the electric chair.

It could have been the way Gibbs ignored all the times Ziva leaned her head on Tony's shoulder and the looks they exchanged every time their hands brushed up against each other.

But what it's really was, was Delilah.

Just her presence alone seemed to light up the room.

And her smile, her smile could make even the most evil of people's heart melt.

It was 'present time' as Abby had called it and the team was gathered in the living room. Abby and Tony were under the tree, taking turns handing presents to Delilah, who would pull at the wrapping paper and let her father and aunt open the rest for her. Gibbs and Ducky sat on the couch, watching with gentle smiles at the baby. McGee sat on the loveseat exchanging laughs with Abby when she turned around to him every time Lila opened up a present they had picked out together.

Ziva had just started the dishwasher but she made sure she didn't miss a present or a giggle. After closing she made sure everything was in its place she made her way over to the tree.

Reaching her daughter, she placed a kiss on top of her head and picked her up. Ziva sat down on the floor cross-legged and put Lila on her lap. She smiled to Tony softly as he handed Delilah another box wrapped with snowmen wrapping paper.

Soon, all of the presents were open, and all that was left was a mess of holiday wrapping paper scattered across the hardwood floor and rug. Delilah needed to be changed into her pajamas and Tony insisted that they watch _It's a Wonderful Life_ and Tim was setting up the DVD player.

Tony caught the mother of his child sneaking to the nursery and jumped up to catch her before she changed Delilah.

"Hey." He said stopping her in the middle of the hall; she wondered why he sounded out of breath.

"Hello." She replied with confusion, settling a stirring Delilah back on her hip.

"Where're you going?" he asked, he was stalling, she could tell.

"To change Lila…" for some reason she looked up, she didn't know exactly why, but something caught her eye.

And there it was.

Mistletoe.

And guess who the lucky two standing underneath were?

She laughed, she had to.

"No." she chuckled as Delilah became mesmerized with her hair.

"Come on, it's practically a crime if you don't." he begged.

"What are you going to do? Tie me up?" she asked slyly.

"If that's what it takes." He replied with a seductive half smile.

She shook her head, but her eyes smiled.

"You've done worse." He pointed out.

"Not for an audience."

"They're not watching." He shot a quick look over to the living room.

Her eyes sharpened and centered on him. He wrapped his hands around Delilah's waist and planted a smoochey kiss on her cheek. Ziva smiled contently and kissed her daughter's other cheek softly, but her eyes were on Tony.

Delilah giggled, and they couldn't resist.

They broke apart, still watching each other, but this time, chuckling lightly at their daughter's giggles.

Out of nowhere, McGee appeared, slightly flushed, and put his arms around Delilah. He could have sworn he heard a protective growl from Ziva.

"As requested by Abby." He stated with a small smile, taking Lila out of her mother's hands and passing through the couple into the nursery.

Ziva turned her head to the living room, and sure enough there was Abby, with her thumb up and an ecstatic smile plastered on her face.

Ziva turned back to Tony, daggers in her eyes and a smile on her lips. "I am going to kill Abby."

"She _was_ the one that put up the mistletoe."

_And there was eye sex_. She watched him sharply, her eyes soft. And all he did was smile.

"It's Christmas tradition."

She could have said she didn't normally celebrate Christmas.

She could have pulled the Jewish card.

She could have given him a swift hard head slap.

But she didn't.

She kissed him. Right there. In front of everybody.

A small kiss, but there was a spark. It was different when it wasn't in front of Delilah; when she knew there was a chance that Gibbs would see.

It was slightly…exciting.

And Gibbs had seen, oh yes, he had seen. Abby could have sworn he _smiled_ too.

Abby got up from the floor and sat down in-between Gibbs and Ducky on the couch. "Technically they're not breaking the rules. Actually, in a way, they're enforcing them."

His eyes slid to her and his lips resisted gravity at the tight half smile she had on face. "Rule 12," she began officially, as if reading it out of the rule book. "Never Date A Coworker. They're not _really_ 'dating' per se, they're just…parenting…together. And…well, occasionally…sleeping together. And, and, and, they're working as a team. Rule...15 right?" She looked at him, and resisted a smile while he stared at her sternly, but she could sense the warmth in the stare.

He nodded and turned, perhaps to not let the grin seeping from his lips grow any larger.

"So…permission for them to…love?" she squeaked.

She waited in silence.

"Permission granted."

But it always had been.

"How long have you known…er, _noticed_?" she corrected, he turned his head once again. He watched her hold back a smile.

"While." He answered simply, turning back to the tree.

"And you didn't say anything?" she sounded surprised he looked at her again, eyes sharp and soft. "Man of little words." She said respectfully.

He smiled a magical smile.

"Rule 4."

"Ah!" she realized. "So no head slaps for Tony?"

"Maybe one." And Abby laughed.

Ziva and Tony returned, index fingers linked. He set up a few pillows on the floor for them and by then, McGee had come out, with a changed Delilah and placed the ten month old on her mother's lap.

Ducky looked around the room; the slightest hint of a smile stained Gibb's lips, Abby was looking over at Delilah with a thoughtful smile, McGee was switching glances from the movie, to Delilah, to Abby. Ziva's head leaned lazily on Tony's shoulder while Lila, who was curled up against her mother's chest, began to fade to sleep.

Yes, this Christmas was _definitely_ different.

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**Like? Love? Hate?**

**Favorite line(s) would make my quite sucky night.**


	29. Maternal

**Wow. Back on that review train:D we're getting closer and closer to 600! Woot! And sorry I haven't been answering most, my email keeps spazzing out and won't send me alerts for the reviews.**

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_(January 30__st__; 3 Days Before Delilah's Birthday)_

Ziva stood in the observation room biting the skin of her thumb and fingernail. Her eyes were soft, but they narrowed on the woman sitting on the other side of the mirror. The woman, Ellen Wideman, was a wreck. Her hair was falling out of the ponytail she had lazily done when Tony brought her in. She looked like she hadn't slept in days and wet puddles of fresh tears pooled below her eyes.

Ziva wasn't any better herself. Her eyes were tired with tears and she had tried many times to tame her hair, but failed miserably.

A swarm of thoughts rushed through her head and made her feel a bit dizzy. Still staring down Ellen, the door opened and made her flinch, worrying the man that came in.

"Must be hard." McGee said as he stood next to her, hints of concern scattered around his face. Gibbs and Tony had just entered interrogation.

Ziva took a breath.

This was her first child case since Delilah. It had come later than she thought, but she knew it would come sooner or later. A two year old boy had been found dead in his backyard by his mother. A bloody hammer had been found next to him and Ducky had determined the COD to be blunt force trauma to the head, and Abby had confirmed the hammer to be the murder weapon. When local LEOs realized his father was a Marine, NCIS had been called in. The father had a titanium alibi; he and the boy's mother were separated, filing for divorce, and a security camera at Dublin's Bar and Grill had him meeting some old college buddies for drinks at the time of the murder.

"It was going to happen eventually." She responded, her voice a scary, cold tone. "But it hit harder than I expected it to."

McGee watched her with uneasy eyes. She did not move and kept her eyes on Ellen, who was getting more unstable by the minute.

"Mrs. Wideman, you know why you're here right?" Dinozzo asked emptily, it hadn't been any easier on Tony either.

She nodded, her hand in front of her mouth, keeping herself from breaking down again. "We found your fingerprints on the hammer, his blood on your shirt, yo-"

"I didn't kill my son!" she shouted, slamming her hands down on the table. Tony stood strong, while Gibbs had not even moved from his place in the corner.

"She is telling the truth." Ziva said from the other side of the mirror.

"There's a lot of evidence against her." Tim pointed out and was still a bit worried that Ziva had not made so much as a movement since he walked in.

"A woman does not just _kill_ her child." She spat out the word, hitting McGee like a knife.

McGee was silent for a moment. "Not everyone is sane-"

"Sane or not, _no one_ would do this to their son." She was angry, and he could tell. But she was not mad at just Ellen, she thought and knew that Ellen was innocent, but what really made her angry was the thought.

She figured her first child case would be a kidnapping, or perhaps a marine killing the man that killed his child. But the thought of a mother killing her own child? It made Ziva sick to her stomach.

McGee swallowed, hard, before slowly turning back to the glass.

"Why would you even_ think_ I would do such a thing? What kind of monster accuses someone of such a crime?" Ellen asked, her eyes broken and dull.

Tony took a small breath, looking down at the file instead of Ellen. "Your husband-"

"_Ex_-husband" she spat harshly.

"Officer Wideman was fighting for full custody of your son."

"Jacob, his name is…" she took a breath, stopping herself from breaking down. "_Was_ Jacob."

Tony nodded solemnly, he looked dry and tired, his eyes red from holding back tears and his throat felt tight every time he tried to speak. But he kept his demeanor as professional and intimidating as possible. "Jacob. Officer Wideman was trying to get full custody. Some mothers think that if they can't have their kids, nobody can." He offered weakly, his stomach churning at the thought.

She looked at him hardly, shaking her head in disgust. "I told you, I would never, _never,_ do anything to harm my son. Robert thought he could pull the alcoholic card on the judge, I've been sober for over a year, he didn't have a chance with full custody."

Gibbs watched Tony quietly, he could see this was hard, but it had to be done. This wasn't going to be the last child case they had. If he didn't get over it now, he never would. It was tough love.

"I understand Mrs Wideman, but we have your fingerprints on the murder weapon, only your fingerprints, we have his blood on your shirt, it's not looking so well for you."

"I told you people before!" she shouted. "When I-" she took another quick breath. "When I found Jacob…the hammer was on his head." She curled her lips inward, her head reached the back of her neck as she looked up to some higher being that she was starting to lose faith in. "I took it off so I could try to stop the bleeding, but…" she lost herself in her tears. But she was strong enough to continue. "And don't tell me you understand Agent Dinozzo." She looked at him apathetically. "Do you know what it's like to have your partner tell you he doesn't love you anymore? Or find you child murdered in your backyard?" she was now in a rage. "And then be accused of his murder?" she stared at him cold and hard. "And to top that all off, find out your pregnant with your bastard of an ex-husband's kid?"

Tony met her eyes for the first time. Face to face, eye to eye, parent to parent.

And he did not see what he expected.

He expected anger, exasperation, hatred, fury, vexation.

But all he saw was sadness, pure, pure sadness.

And he shook his head.

"No." she laughed, a sarcastic, pathetic laugh. "Didn't think so." She caught sight of his tie. "But you do have kids." She sounded surprised.

He nodded slowly. She motioned to his Armani tie. "Spit up, on your tie. How old?" she asked absently.

"Eleven months." He paused. "She'll be a year on Sunday." She was innocent, those eyes were innocent.

Ellen nodded, and she almost smiled. Silence filled the room, a long, tense silence.

"I didn't kill my son, Agent Dinozzo."

"I know."

And he did.

...

Ziva's jaw tighten. McGee's eyes slid to meet her, and he could tell very well that she was holding back a Niagara worthy amount of tears.

He could not fathom the internal struggle and emotions she was battling right now.

The door opened quickly, bringing McGee's eyes back to the door as a blur of Goth rushed in the room, closing the door behind her and leaning on it, holding the murder weapon in an evidence bag up victoriously.

"That woman, did not kill her son." Abby said, sounding too happy for this dreary moment.

McGee did not look to see the absent victory smile that should have been on Ziva's lips. "Well, Abs…we need evidence to prove that."

"Seek and you shall find McGee." She held up the bag containing the hammer next to her smiling face. "Ellen's fingerprints, only fingerprint on the hammer."

McGee watched her blankly. "Exactly, that's why we brought her in."

"McGee, this is her hammer, from her shed. Officer Wideman had been doing work on his house before he was kicked out. There should be _way_ more fingerprints. But I found nothing, zip, nada, goose egg." Her eyes were wide as she spoke and her smile still bright.

"Abs, that's a start…but he could have cleaned it before he left…he could have used work gloves when he used-"

"Yea…but…" she continued meekly, seeing as her theory was not as rock-solid as she thought it was. "I scanned the hammer and found more smudged traces of blood, Jacob's blood. It was definitely wiped after killing Jacob. Why would she wipe her fingerprints off just to put them back on?" McGee watched her, his eyes growing from unsure to thankful. "That's good work Abs." he shared a smile with her.

"And that wasn't such a bad Gibbs impression."

The smallest hint of a smile grew on Ziva's lips. A smile for Ellen, for her innocence. And Ellen was relieved, someone understood. It takes a parent to know that a parent would never do such a thing.

It takes a mother to know a mother.

* * *

"Ma chérie, tu m'as manqué." Ziva whispered into her daughter's ear as she took her from Sarah's embrace.

"A little young to be speaking French isn't she?" Sarah asked lightly, getting up from the couch.

"You are never too young to learn a language." Ziva smiled.

"Yea, you know how some kids are bilingual?" Tony asked Sarah. "Lila's gunna be more like octolingual." Sarah laughed.

"How was she?" Ziva asked, the regular traces of hopefulness lingered in her words as she took out leftovers pasta from yesterday and put it in the microwave, all while Delilah sat contently on her hip.

"Great, as always. I'm telling you Ziva, Delilah is the single most well behaved baby I have ever met." Sarah boasted, setting the table. Since taking this job she had become closer and closer with Ziva, Tony, and especially Delilah. Her parent's divorce had been hard on her and she soon found herself at the David-Dinozzo residence more often than her mother's apartment which she had been staying at since dropping out after her second year due to financial issues. But Ziva saw something in Sarah and took her in, paying her well and treating her almost like another daughter.

Ziva smiled proudly as she took the pasta out of the microwave. Tony came in from the bedroom, now in sweatpants and Ohio State t-shirt and gave everyone a few spoonfuls.

"Did you have fun with Sarah?" Tony asked his daughter, who responded with a pound of laughter. He gave her a hearty chuckle before strapping her in her highchair.

"How was work?" Sarah asked to both agents.

"Difficult." Ziva said quickly. Sarah noticed how she cut Delilah's pasta faster.

Tony coughed. "Child case." He breathed. And Sarah nodded, silently dropping it.

"Oh!" she piped up, getting out of her seat and heading for the phone. "Someone called, asked for you." She pointed to Ziva before grabbing the pad where she had written down the name.

"Anything specific?" Ziva seemed disinterested as she fed Delilah small forks of pasta, trying her hardest not to get red sauce all over her chin.

"Just asked for you, told him you were at work, said he'd try you sometime this week, number came up blocked for some reason though." She twisted her mouth in thought.

"Did he give you a name?" Ziva threw a piece of pasta at Tony, attempting to make him stop making faces at Delilah while she was eating, every time she laughed, more sauce would fly to her face. "Stop making her laugh!" she couldn't help but smile.

"Laughter is the best medicine." He volleyed.

"She is not sick, but you are."

"Oh, am I?" he laughed.

"Sick in the head." She threw another piece of macaroni at him.

"Oh bring it Mama Ninja." He mocked.

Sarah laughed at the banter between the two, but sadly had to interrupt. "The caller?" her voice stopped Tony's hand from realizing the piece of pasta in his hand.

"An..." she took a quick glance at the paper. "Eli David."

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**Dun, dun, dun.**

**Yeah I know, right? I wasn't gunna bring him into this story, but…shit happens right?**

**It's not gunna be anything huge, I promise, next chapter, maybe a small into the one after that, but nothing huge, just wanna address Eli finding out about his granddaughter. **

**Oh! And throughout the story, a few people have been asking me if it was finished. I promise you people, I will tell you when it's finished, which won't be for a while.**

**Review:D favorite line and such…**


	30. Comfort

**Sorry for the delay, as always. I know, I'm a sucky updater, but whatareyagunnado? So i decided to go a different way with this, its still gunna be addressed, just…well, you'll get it when you read the story. **

**And before you go on, ummm…a few more reviews and we have 600! Wow. Just wow. This story has gotten a bigger audience than I have ever imagined. Thank you all. **

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The kitchen was silent.

The color had been drained from Ziva's face as she looked into the table, unable to process her thoughts. _Her father, had called, her house, today._

"Wait." something hit Sarah. "David…as in…" Tony coughed, catching her attention. He shook his head quickly towards her but before he could change the subject Ziva spoke.

"My father." the words sounded foreign as they traveled through her mouth. She turned her head to Sarah, who could not pick out one expression from her face for it was jumbled with emotions.

"Oh." Sarah said quietly, but it fell upon deaf ears.

"Did he say anything?" she asked quietly.

Sarah came back to the table, picking up her empty plate and glass and bringing it over to the sink. "No. Just that he'd try you at another time." she replied simply.

Ziva slid her pasta from one side of the plate to the other slowly with her fork. She rubbed her thumb across Delilah's hand gently, her daughter's soft skin giving her a comforting feeling.

Tony felt Ziva's mood change, everyone did. "Sarah, can you change Lila into her PJ's?" he asked, reaching his hand across the table to cover Ziva's.

"Sure thing." she complied, knowing he needed some alone time with Ziva. She picked up Delilah and carried her off into her nursery, whispering comforting phrases into her ear as she could feel the baby becoming worried.

Ziva took in a forkful of pasta before Tony spoke. "Ziva…" his voice was full of worry as he rubbed his finger across her hand.

"Tony." she piped up with a slightly warning tone. Her eyes met his. "He called. It is no big concern."

"You think he knows about Lila?" he felt it needed to be asked.

Her eyes drifted off of his. "I have no doubt he found out some way." she took another mouthful of pasta. "Why else would he call?" she shared a calm look with him, a smile planted quickly on her lips and then disappeared.

She took her last forkful of pasta and got up, dropping the conversation, and the plates into the dishwasher.

…

"You can't just ignore this." Tony pointed out later that night.

Sarah had gone home, leaving Tony, Ziva, and Delilah to some family time. They sat on the living room floor, Dora the Explorer playing on the television while Delilah drifted to sleep in Ziva's lap.

"I am not." she shifted Delilah to a more comfortable position. "He said he would call again." And she had yet to know that her heart would skip a beat every time the phone rang from now on.

He watched her as she stared hard at the TV. He could tell something was off. She was thinking, long and serious.

Tony leaned over and placed a kiss to her temple and a smile appeared on his face when he saw the slightest hint of her own smile tugging at her lips.

She couldn't help it.

Tony ran his fingers through Delilah's curls softly as she fell asleep. "Do not worry." she told him as he smiled at his sleeping daughter. "She is so pure right now…and I want to keep her that way."

He got up, taking Delilah from her mother when he did. He let out his hand for her. "You're father's not going to get to her." his voice was confident.

She took his hand and he lifted her up swiftly. "Believe me, I am not worried about him getting to her. I just do not want her exposed to any of that." he gave her another kiss to the forehead. He handed Delilah back to her and she loved the feeling of her sleeping child breathing steadily against her chest.

"We're a team."

Add that to the child cradled in her arms, and never had she felt more comfort in her life.

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**Yea, so it may be next chapter, or it may be ten chapters from now. Sorry, but that's just the way I roll. **

**I kept this short cause next chapter is Delilah's first birthday party!**

**So review(favorite line balblahblah) ! Please and thank yous:D**


	31. The End of The Beginning

**Wow. Big delay. Sorry, I need to find me some time:P**

**Anyways, Happy Birthday Lila!**

**

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_(February 2nd)_

"Happy Birthday dear Delilah! Happy birthday to yooouuu."

Tony and Ziva's apartment was decorated for celebration and that's what Gibbs, Ducky, McGee, and Abby had come there for; to celebrate a year with Delilah, their first year with Delilah.

Bunches of purple balloons filled the corners of the dining room where the cake was being served. And one soft yellow balloon had been tied to each chair. The table was clothed with special Happy Birthday bordered cloth. Sitting in the middle was a rectangular, homemade sponge cake with the words "Happy First Birthday Delilah!" written in cursive over the chocolate icing. Ziva was proud of her dessert, mostly because Delilah had helped her as best she could with the pouring and stirring.

And now, with the spaghetti and meatballs already consumed, and Delilah cleaned up from said spaghetti and meatballs, they sat around the table, with Delilah at the head of the table on her mother's lap in front of the lit cake.

The song had just been sung and Ziva whispered in her daughter's ear. "Blow out the candles amore." She blew lightly to get Delilah to imitate her. After a few seconds Delilah got the hang of it and blew towards the candles, blowing all but two, which her father _sneezed_ out, putting Lila into a fit of giggles.

Ziva placed a strong kiss to her daughter's cheek, squeezing her lovingly as her dad brought out a knife to cut the cake. She wrapped Delilah's hand around the handle and placed her own hand on top of hers, guiding her down the cake evenly. She swiped a glob of icing off the blade and allowed Delilah to suck it off, laughing into her curls.

Gibbs should have noticed the quick moments where Tony's eyes lingered on Ziva's longer than they should have.

He should have noticed smiles McGee and Abby exchanged every time Delilah did something cute.

He should have noticed how Ziva's hand was quite comfortable on Tony's thigh during dinner.

He should have noticed how much Tony struggled to keep the PDA to a minimum.

And he did. Every single moment.

And Ducky should have asked why Gibbs didn't move a muscle at every subtle moment. But he already knew.

* * *

After cake had been gobbled down and Delilah was in her third outfit of the night, they sat in the living room. Gibbs and Ducky on the couch, Abby sitting at Gibbs feet while he massaged her head with his fingertips. She had let her pigtails free after cake and her black locks were now being ruffled around by Gibbs' hand in a playful and relaxing manner. McGee sat diagonal from Abby, their bare feet were having an absent slap fight as Tony helped his daughter open her presents.

The birthday girl sat in her mother's lap, where she was most of the night, only taking a small break to show off her improved walking skills.

A few beautifully handcrafted and painted toys were given to her by Gibbs. Aside from two shopping bags full of clothes that would make Dracula's daughter jealous, Abby got her two matching spiked wrist cuffs. McGee had gotten her the latest learning game system for her age. And the collection of classic books was from Ducky, which Ziva promised with a wink that Delilah would read them all before she got to high school.

Ziva squeezed her daughter, kissing the top of her head. One year. One year and her life had changed so much. She remembered exactly one year from today she lay in the hospital bed, her nine hour old daughter cradled in her arms and for the first time in her life she was absolutely in love with someone.

A complete year had passed; the earth had circled the sun once more. Ziva looked down at her daughter, a year ago she was in her arms and a year later she was again in her embrace, having more fun ripping up the wrapping paper than actually playing with the toys.

As Delilah started to doze off Tony saw everyone out. Ziva picked her half-asleep daughter up off the ground and placed her against her chest, carrying her into her and Tony's room.

Tony came into the bedroom to find Ziva innocently placing Delilah in the middle of their bed. He gave her a smile when she looked up at him sweetly. "We're not supposed to let her sleep in our bed every night." He warned her lightly as he remembered what all those baby books had said.

"Oh stop." She rolled her eyes and pushed his shoulder playfully as he passed to get to his side. "It's not _every_ night."

He chuckled. Climbing into bed, she let him place his usual goodnight kiss on her cheek, but tonight's lasted longer than usual. He pulled back and met her eyes. "Thanks." He whispered softly.

"Well if it wasn't for your sperm I wouldn't have Delilah." He chuckled, he was trying to keep the mood somewhat romantic but the way Ziva said sperm so casually kinda killed it.

"What?" she laughed out of confusion.

"Nothing." he chuckled, laying his head on the pillow.

The both faced Delilah, their focus changing from their daughter to each other every now and then. Ziva's eyes watered with happy tears, but she let none fall.

Okay, maybe one.

* * *

A lot can happen in a year.

Babies are born; people die. You can fall in love; you can fall out of love.

You can get life changing news; someone could change your life.

You can have your first kiss; you can have your first heartbreak.

Three hundred and sixty-five days. A lot can happen in three hundred and sixty-five days. Neither he nor she would have ever imagined that they would be here, lying in bed together, hands intertwined, their baby girl in the middle.

For Delilah, it was only the beginning.

For Tony and Ziva, it was the end of the beginning. And the start of the future.

* * *

_(A Few Days Later; Abby's Lab)_

She took a breath, stepping in the lab quietly. The lab was lit, music blasting; she swallowed it in. "Abby?" she called quietly into the lab.

The goth heard her on the first call, turning around with a smile. "Ziva!" she waved a hand, motioning for Ziva to come. "What can I do for you on this glorious morning?" And perhaps she was being greedy to expect a bigger smile.

"Can you run this?" he voice was flat as she tried to hide her anxiety. Abby looked down at the cup of urine. Her mouth dropped slightly. "Is it yours?"

Ziva nodded slowly. "I think I may be pregnant."

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**Hehe, cliffers, not gunna even give you a hint! :P**

**Btw, that thing Gibbs was doing with Abby; something my Pop-pop does to my aunt while my aunt does it to me, it's cute, at least in my family:P **

**Review, school starts Wednesday :P**


	32. Moment of Truth

**I hope this story isn't losing momentum.

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**

Abby's mouth dropped slightly.

"You…think…" she let out slowly.

"Most likely not," she paused, trying to believe her own words. "I just need to be completely sure." She gave the small container to Abby.

"Well okay." But her optimistic words were filled with some worry as she ran the urine.

Abby turned to Ziva, wrapping her arms around her and holding her tightly. "How are you feeling?" she asked quietly, her eyes full of care.

"A little nauseous," she inhaled sharply. "And…a few days late."

Abby nodded. Taking a deep breath, she pulled away from Ziva and looked her up and down. "Well if it's any consolation you don't look pregnant."

Ziva furrowed her eyebrows with a simple smile on her face. "Ziva, I'm a world renowned scientist," she pushed her title jokingly. "I can tell what cereal a person had for breakfast. I can usually tell when someone is pregnant." She caused a chuckle to escape Ziva's lips.

"Well I-" Her words faded in themselves. She wasn't sure if she wanted this. But her tangled thoughts were penetrated by the beeping of the machine. "That was fast." Abby mused, turning towards Major Mass Spec. But before she made it all the way, she spun around, facing Ziva, who was hot on her tail. "So…are we gunna be okay with this?" she bit her lower lip.

Ziva took another breath, nodding. "It is soon. Very soon. But, I would accept it." She forced a smile.

Abby's smile was more genuine, but still small. Nodding, she turned back towards the machine. "Moment of truth." she breathed.

* * *

_(Later That Night; Ziva's Apartment)_

Ziva came into the living room from the kitchen with a smile on her face. The sight of her sleeping daughter lying peacefully on Tony's chest warmed her heart.

She came to the couch, lifting up Tony's legs and sitting underneath them. He opened his eyes at the movement, a content smile on his face when he saw who it was. He lay his head back down on the arm of the couch, stroking Delilah's chocolate curls as a soft snore escaped her.

"We agreed to be completely honest with each other, yes?" Her words came out of the blue, and Tony lifted his head up to speak. "You're sleeping with McGee aren't you?" he accused, shaking his head in mock disbelief. She laughed softly. "I knew it." He faked disappointment.

She smiled at him as he set his head back down. Waiting a moment, she spoke slowly. "I took a test today."

"Hate tests, never really like school actually. Think I pulled more Ferris Buellers than actua-"

"It was a pregnancy test."

Tony's mouth shut, his eyes grew serious. She brushed her hand across his calves. "Oh." It was barely a whisper. "I, uh…um…"

"I am not pregnant Tony." He let out a breath. "It was negative."

"Those things can be wrong can't they?" His voice was not one of hope, but more of thoroughness.

"I had Abby run it, my hormones are all normal." She patted his knee.

He nodded. "Oh, okay then."

She shifted her body, laying her head down on his shoulder and fitting her body against his. There was some silence, as Ziva admired her daughter, brushing a finger across her smooth olive toned cheek. "You want more kids." He asked her hesitantly.

She let out a breath, knowing this conversation was inevitable. He felt her shrug against his shoulder. "I do not know." She smiled for some odd reason. "I love Delilah, and I want to put everything I have into raising her." She smiled adoringly at the sleeping child. "And besides, I already have two children." She nipped at his ear.

"It's all part of my charm." he smiled, kissing her nose.

"Acting half your shoe size is charming?" she teased, snuggling her head deeper into his warmth.

"Siblings are always fun to have." he pointed out.

Something hit her, straight in the heart, but she brushed it off. "Oh and you would know?" she tossed lightly.

He chuckled, mentally admiring her voice as silence lingered for a moment.

"Truth be told, I only planned on having one child. I thought it would just be me and Delilah."

"I'm sure that's exactly what was running through your mind when you picked my sperm." He smiled victoriously when he made her blush. "We're a family now." And he looked right into her eyes.

"Perhaps, in a few years…I will _consider_ it."

For it was too soon. The situation was too fresh and delicate to be tampered with by more children than they could handle. It's already hard as it is juggling parenthood, throw in a relationship and more children and you may as well flip the switch.

Their life was already complicated and unorthodox as it was, they did not need more challenges thrown at them. Delilah was their life and soul although she was an amazing child, mother and fatherhood was not as easy as one would think. They mentally admitted it, they were not ready.

_Yet.

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**Short, sweet, to the point.**

**Reviews would be great, specially on a Monday morning:D**


	33. Beautiful Girl

**My email is being really bitchy nowadays. I can't reply to any emails. But I just wanna thank you all for your reviews. This my most successful story ever. Thank you all so much, and sincerely, your reviews gets me through the day:D**

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"Maybe it is too early." Ziva bounced her Delilah on her knees nervously. "Maybe I should wait another year or two."

She, Abby and Delilah sat in the waiting room of the salon. Abby was casually flipping through one of the old magazines while Ziva sat twitching in her seat, holding Delilah close to her.

"Ziva, she's going to be fine. It'll hurt for a second and then poof! She'll be the prettiest little ninja ever." She tapped her finger on Delilah's nose, making her smile.

"I hate seeing her cry. I cannot take it." Ziva inhaled sharply.

"A lifetime of beautiful ears will make up for a second of pain. And she's one, she won't remember it, heck, she won't even remember it tomorrow." She had never seen Ziva so nervous, but since having Delilah, she had become extremely protective and sensitive towards her daughter. "Calm down, mama. Look, even she's not nervous."

"She does not know what is happening." Ziva defended.

"She does not need earrings to make her look adorable." she pestered, then looked down at her daughter adoringly. "She is perfect the way she is."

"Ziva, it'll only take a minute." Abby whined.

Ziva let out a long sigh.

Abby huffed, putting the worn magazine down on her lap. "You're over-reacting."

Ziva looked at her hardly, but her face soon soften. She nodded. "Perhaps you are right."

"I know I'm right." Abby said with a mock eye roll. She picked up the magazine again. "Did you tell Tony?" she slipped nonchalantly, even though her insides were bursting with anticipation.

Ziva held back a smile, knowing Abby all too well. "I did." she informed her in the simplest of matters, forcing Abby to pester even further if she wanted answers.

"And?"

"He was fine with it." Ziva had taken a few deep breaths and was much calmer.

"So he doesn't want any kids?"

"We _both_ think it is too soon. Delilah is first and foremost in our lives." Ziva couldn't help but smile.

"David." the receptionist called out.

Ziva's heart jumped. But she stood up anyway, balancing Delilah on her hip. She took another deep breath. Delilah turned her head to face her mother. "Ma!" she said, placing a smooth hand on her cheek.

Ziva breathed a laugh, her smile glowing in admiration towards her daughter. "Ce sera parfait." She pressed a lip to her curls before following the receptionist into a small room, Abby following close behind.

Ziva did not know if it was fortunate or unfortunate that the woman the beautician came in right away. On one hand, better to get it over with, but on the other hand, she did not know if she was ready to deal with seeing her daughter in pain. Placing Delilah on the chair, she knelt down slightly, to be eye level with her.

She had over thought it more than she needed to, but what mother doesn't. She held Delilah's hand tight as the baby became more nervous at the sight of her mother's worried and concern filled eyes.

Ziva put on a strong face, whispering to her daughter that it was going to be fine in many different languages. Her mother's voice gave her assurance and Delilah sat innocently as both the beautician and Abby assured guaranteed Ziva that everything would be fine.

But as expected, Delilah cried and Ziva winced. Her baby cried out her name and she spoke rapidly in Hebrew. The first earring had been placed and there was only one more to go. Ziva held Delilah as tight and loving as she could, while Abby rubbed her hand comfortingly across the top of Ziva's back.

Her breaths were rapid as Delilah cried and tried to twist her head away from the woman. Ziva ran her fingers through Lila's waves, trying to distract her with an Italian lullaby she knew Tony had sung a few times to her.

"Done!" the woman said victoriously, standing back for a moment to make sure they were even, and they were. "Perfect." She admired her own work.

"Oh, thank God." Ziva picked her up off the chair, holding her tightly in her arms. Her head lay on her shoulder as she continued to brush her hand through her brunette locks.

Abby held back a laugh, but soon let go. It was a sweet, admiring laugh. Happy that it was over (it wasn't easy for her to see her niece in pain either) and even happier that Ziva was now perfectly calm as she consoled her daughter.

Delilah whimpered as they made their way to the car, but she was safe in her mother's embrace. Arriving at the mini cooper, she buckled Delilah into her car seat. Abby came over to her side as they two woman looked at the small child. Delilah's eyes were slightly puffy, and her cheeks were now a rosy pink. She hung her lead slightly to the left, completely drained from crying.

"She looks adorable!" Abby squealed, her smile could easily be used in a mouthwash commercial.

Ziva laughed in agreement. "That she does." She admired the two small diamonds that stuck on her daughter's ear, ones that would soon be replaced by the small star earrings Tony had gotten for her for her birthday. A chuckle made its way out of her lips as Delilah started to doze off right in front of her. "With or without the earrings."

She looked down at her sleeping angel, the love of her life. She leaned down to wipe away the wetness underneath her closed eyes. Now fast asleep, Ziva had calmed down drastically; Abby was right, after Delilah woke up she wouldn't remember a thing. This small experience would just be a moment in the past.

Through this experience, Ziva had grown as a mother. Your child is not always going to be happy, everyone goes through pain. But a mother's pain of seeing her own child was the greatest of them all and Ziva prayed that she would never have to go through that again.

And Ziva knew she didn't need the earrings to make her beautiful. Later on in life she wouldn't need make-up or cute clothes. Only a year old, and Ziva already knew her daughter would have heart-breaker looks and a heart-warmer personality.

Delilah's was beautiful, on the inside and out, she just…was.

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**Favorite line and such would make my day:D**

**And again, still taking suggestions. Never had a baby, probably won't for a while, anything you think she should do as she's growing up?**


	34. Generosity

**I understand last chapter sucks, I knew it when I wrote it. Cause it kind of seemed that I was saying that you needed earrings to look beautiful, which I wasn't trying to do, so I apologize if it came off that way:P the chapter was inspired when I went with my aunt to get my cousin's ears pierced, she's 5 months old. I hated seeing my aunt in pain, but something hit me; motherhood isn't all flowers and rainbows, there's pain, whether it be a little or a lot. I really don't know. **

**And I lot of people were saying Lila was pretty young, and from my personal experience, I don't think she was that young. I got mine when I was 3 months old and most of my cousins got theirs before they were one. Anyway, this is a shirt chapter, inspired by a quote on my aunt's refrigerator. **

**Points to anyone that can find it.

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Ziva pushed Delilah around in her stroller, weaving through the many people (mostly tourists) in Washington. It was lunch time and Ziva had felt like going into the city for lunch.

She loved the moments like this.

Just her and Delilah; Delilah and her.

They soon found their way to the Lincoln memorial and Ziva, armed with two sandwiches and enough wipes to clean the entire city, they found a nice spot on the steps and Ziva started to cut up Delilah's sandwich into a few more pieces.

She gave Delilah a juice box while the young girl picked at her peanut butter and jelly sandwich. Ziva smiled admiringly at her daughter as she blew into the juice box, creating an amusing noise to the one year old and sending her into a fit of merry giggles.

Ziva took out some strawberries, eating a few while Delilah finished her sandwich. "Bears, bears!" Delilah squealed, the strawberries in sight. Ziva laughed. "One at a time, petit chéri." She gave her a small strawberry to start with and breathed an exasperated laugh as her daughter got more strawberry _around_ her mouth than inside it.

Delilah took a sip of juice and then reached out her arm to her mother. "Ma?" she questioned with innocent eyes. "Juice?"

Ziva was slightly taken aback by her daughter's generosity. She caught her breath. "Thank you, amore." Her smile could not have been wider as she took the juice box gently out of her daughter's hand and had a small sip. "Mmm." She moved her smile closer to Delilah, touching her nose softly.

Ziva did not notice the huge groups of tourist taking pictures of everything in sight, or the business man yelling into his blackberry a few steps behind her. Nor did she look twice at the few dozen pairs of parents trying to control their rambunctious children while weaving through the happy couples strolling along the edges of the monuments. And the sirens and honks and shouts of Washington blew right past her.

Because somehow, even in this bustling city, Delilah still found a way to stop time and take her mother's breath away.

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**Okay, well now it's a little obvious what the quote was. It was supposed to be about New York, but Washinton's busy too. And of course it didn't have Deliah's name in it:P It read:**

"_**Even in a busy city, he finds a way to stop time and take my breath away."**_

**Hope this was a better chapter.**


	35. Novia

**No, you're not dreaming. **

**Its me. Name change though. But still the same story.**

**This chapter's going to be short and I apologize. But good news is I'm back:) And I'm 96% sure I'm going to continue with this story. **

**So without further wait, the next chapter**

**Oh, and since this story doesn't follow most of Season 7 or 8's storyline, Enemies Foreign/Domestic never happened. **

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"So." Tony rests his head on his palms, which are being supported by his elbows on the hard marble table. "How are we gunna do this?" he asks his daughter sitting in her high chair across from him; ingredients for a pasta and chicken dinner lay out in-between them.

She watches him innocently through the olive oil.

Just then, his saving grace; Ziva walks through the front door.

"Oh thank God." he breathes, getting up from his crouching position and heading for the door.

He catches her as she closes and door and places a soft kiss to her lips before helping her with her jacket and hanging it on the coat rack for her. "What is this all about?" she furrows her eyebrows and scrunches her mouth, walking towards the kitchen table.

"What? I can't be nice and loving to my..." he suddenly realizes he has no idea what to call her. "Ziva." he smiles.

She kisses her daughter's head, noticing his hesitation with the sentence. She turns around slowly to meet his eyes. "What about novia?" she asks, tapping her chin with her index finger.

"Is that a movie? Or better yet a food. I'm starving."

She chuckles. "It means...girlfriend in Spanish." She starts to boil the water.

"_Novia."_ It rolls easily off his tongue. "I like it." he walks around her, wrapping his arms around her waste. He nuzzles his head in her hair, taking in the lavender scent.

She smiles at the feeling of his warm breath on her shoulder.

He lifts his head up and pushes her hair to one side of her head, kissing the bare skin on her neck. "Tony." she warns, but her voice is only that way to cover up the moan she is about to release.

"What?" he chuckles, continuing up to her jaw and making his way back down.

"Not in front of Delilah." she says softly, biting her lip.

He turns his head around to get a glimpse at his daughter, who's sitting contently on her highchair, fooling with her doll.

"She's not watching."

She tries to wriggle and squirm out of his hold but he places his hands firmly on her hips. "Oh, come on." he pleads in a whisper.

"It is dinner time." she states with a teasing smile, pouring the pasta into the pot.

"Fine." he holds her closer. "But I'm staying like this until you're done."

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_(After dinner)_

She closes Delilah's bedroom door as softly as she can.

Still staring at the wooden door, Ziva feels eyes on her. "You do not really think you can sneak up on me do you?" she smiles a sly smile.

Tony laughs. "I wasn't trying to."

She turns around to meet his smiling green eyes and charming grin. His hair is neatly combed to its regular side and she can't wait to wake up to it being a complete mess.

He wraps his arms around her waist. "So we meet again."

And so do their lips.

But she pulls away quickly and pulls him towards the living room, an ecstatic smile on her face.

"Bedroom's _that_ way." he laughs wonderingly.

"I know. It _is_ my house." she brings him to the living room rug where toys and cheerios are scattered around the chocolate brown material. "First we need to clean up."

"Zee-vah!" he whines as she picks up a few pacifiers.

"I cannot leave this here. It will be the only thing I think about. And I do not want to be distracted." she brings them to the sink while Tony huffs, grabbing some blocks up off the carpet.

Soon, the carpet is cleared and as Tony throws the last rattle into the toy box, he feels warm arms around him. With a smile, he takes her hands and lifts them up to his lips, kissing her knuckles softly. She turns him around and cups his cheeks in her hands, kissing him slowly.

The phone seems to ring extra loudly and Tony groans. She laughs against his lips before unbuttoning his top button. The phone rings again.

She chuckles. "I do not want to see that shirt on you when I come back." she winks, heading for the kitchen. Without checking the caller ID, she picks it up during the third ring.

"Hello?" she is slightly out of breath and a chuckle is still very much present in her voice.

"Ziva?" she almost drops the phone at the sound of his voice.

She doesn't speak, but swallows instead. Her throat has gone dry though and now tastes like pennies.

"Ziva?" his thick Israeli accent calls again.

"Yes." she curls her lips inwards.

"It is your father." he states.

She breathes inward deeply. "I know."

"It has been a long time."

"Leon told you?" But it comes out as more of a statement then a question.

"Well _you_ did not."

Neither speak for a long moment. And she feels a warm hand wrapped around hers. She doesn't have to turn around to see it is Tony. His shirt is fully unbuttoned, but not off, and his face is stained with concern after he hears the lack of happiness in her voice. He remembers Sarah informing them of who called a few days before. He's been a cop and investigator long enough to put the pieces together.

"You only call when you hear I have a child now?" he voice is low so that he cannot hear it shaking.

"It is big news."

"Me surviving the mission was also big news."

"I did not feel you were ready to talk to me."

"You do not decided how I do or do not feel." she says harshly, squeezing Tony's hand harder.

She hears him take a deep huff of a breath. She's heard that noise before. He is restraining himself.

"I only called to wish health and happiness to my only living daughter and granddaughter."

Ziva lets a tear escape her eye and run the length down her still face. Only because she knows he's genuine.

"Thank you." she says with another breath.

"My door is always open for you."

"Shalom." she whispers.

"Shalom."

She hangs up before he can and little does she know her father keeps the phone pressed to his ear, listening to the dial tone for another minute before hanging up himself.

Ziva turns around slowly, only to be engulfed in a soft hug from Tony. A loose tear drops to Tony's shoulder.

He kisses her cheek softly as he pulls away. His hands linger on her cheeks and his eyes, filled with care, looking deep into hers. "Come on, let's just go to bed."

She finally meets his eyes and gives him a soft smile. She nods.

They pass Delilah's room and she slips her hand out of his and ducks into her sleeping daughter's room. She gets to her crib and smiles. Leaning over the railing, she places another goodnight kiss on her smooth olive cheek.

She meets her novio at the door and wraps her arms around his neck, hugging him tightly. "You're not going to worry about Eli right?" he asks.

"No." she whispers in his ear. "And you," she pulls back to look at his face. "Do not worry about me."

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**This is nice.**

**I miss writing Tiva fluff. **

**So not as short as I planned. Guess thats better for you guys.**

**Anyways, review, drop an idea or two, maybe a name for a possible baby in the next dozen or so chapters to come. Gasp! I've said too much. **

**So look forward to some McAbby, another cliffhanger, maybe a smallish or biggish tragedy, and another baby (Damn, I said it again. Fine, but I'm not telling you for which pairing.) **

**Oh! And the chapters are going to be written in present tense instead of pass. It's just how I've been writing since writing the last chapter of this story so its harder for me to put it in past:/ Also, I reread this story before I started this chapter and I'm going to pick a day to go back and fix all my errors. **

**And yes, this story is just going to get more fluffy and gooey as time passes. **

**Review!**


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